


Nature vs. Nuture

by LiterallyCantChooseJustOneFandom



Category: Sonic the Hedgehog (Archie Comic), Sonic the Hedgehog - All Media Types
Genre: Attempted Murder, Child Abandonment, Child manipulation, Multi, Nefarious Adoption, Other, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Selectively Mute Sonic the Hedgehog, Sign Language, Slavery, Slaves, Sonic Robotnik, Sonic get some actual schooling, Sonic has PTSD, Spy Sonic the Hedgehog, You're Welcome, attempted murder of a child, casual mentions of murder, it's a tag now
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-25
Updated: 2020-08-06
Packaged: 2021-03-01 01:28:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 33
Words: 23,020
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23306824
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LiterallyCantChooseJustOneFandom/pseuds/LiterallyCantChooseJustOneFandom
Summary: After Sonic’s parents are “killed” by Robotnik’s siege on Mobotropolis, the new Emperor discovers the incredibly fast and terrified child looking for his Uncle Chuck, not knowing that he had fled with the other survivors to Knothole. Seeing the hedgehog’s potential, Ivo takes the boy in, knowing his most powerful weapon might not be one he builds, but one he raises.aka the AU where Sonic was adopted by Robotnik before the hedgeboy could escape mobotropolis and meet Tails
Relationships: Dr. Eggman | Dr. Robotnik & Sonic the Hedgehog, Knuckles the Echidna & Sonic the Hedgehog, Mighty the Armadillo & Ray the Flying Squirrel, Miles "Tails" Prower & Sonic the Hedgehog, Sally Acorn & Sonic the Hedgehog, Snively Robotnik & Dr. Eggman | Dr. Robotnik, Snively Robotnik & Sonic the Hedgehog, Sonic the Hedgehog & Freedom Fighters, Sonic the Hedgehog & Sir Chales the Hedgehog, Sonic the Hedgehog & Sonic's Parents, Sonic the Hedgehog & Uncle Chuck
Comments: 72
Kudos: 187





	1. What's a Name?

Ivo had long since lost his faith the sentients around him. From the first automaton he built as a child, he knew that the greatest force on the planet was mechanical. Well, he thought he knew it. His knowledge may need revision.

Before the conquerer was a young boy, less than half a decade in age most certainly, unlike any other. This boy, blue and small and looking terrified, was the object of his difference in thought. Perhaps an explanation was in order.

Robotnik had been surveying the streets for survivors with a battalion of badniks when another battalion had called in with word of trouble. They’d said that their assailant was faster than their software determined that a person, human or mobian, should be able to go. Ivo had predicted that King Nigel had released some sort of weapon upon his retreat into the city. Or maybe it was a distraction for whatever survivors of the area to escape. Nevertheless, it was worth seeing what the commotion might be.

When he arrived, all he saw was a blue blur, badniks destroyed in its wake. Little feet make themselves clear when a particularly large badnik stood in its way. The blur slowed, feet becoming visible as they skid on the ground, then the body and head of a less than a half-metre-tall hedgehog child appeared from the blur. Ivo could hardly believe it if he didn’t see it. His mind ran nearly as fast as the child before he realized his badniks were taking aim on the now-surrounded anomaly.

“Weapons down!” Robotnik bellowed, quite pleased with the synchronicity of the weapons lowering and the surprised quick turn of the child’s head. Now that Ivo had a good look at him, he noticed a couple of things, the first being the smoke emitting from the boy’s shoes, obviously not built for the insurmountable speed necessary to create a spark underneath the boy’s feet. The second thing was the tears. They weren’t tears of fear but of defiance, the emotion too powerful for the small body to hold in. The third was the hedgehog’s remarkable resemblance to some of Ivo Robotnik’s biggest threats. Jules and Bernadette Hedgehog were known as the Sweethearts of the battlefield, a married couple who reportedly had a child a couple of years ago while still maintaining their battle-prowess. They were to the battlefield as General Prowler was to strategy, threats Ivo was sure to concentrate mobilized units on quickly, perhaps the only reason he had taken the city so quickly. This child seemed as old as the rumours of the Hedgehogs having a child, so it seems he could confirm them here and now. There was also the matter of Charles Hedgehog, Jules’ brother. Sir Chuck, as he’s known among King Nigel’s inner circles, was still unaccounted for. But apparently, he had left his nephew behind in the mad rush to evacuate the city.

The child met his gaze with a fiery one, piquing Ivo’s interest more. Here this child, five at most, was surrounded by a battalion and a half of an invasion force and yet he remained defiant. Robotnik wanted him, if not for a pet then for entertainment.

Ivo smiled as warmly as he could, muscles unused to the treatment. He navigated his floating vehicle closer to the boy, slowly as to not startle the sentient lightning in a bottle. The boy’s expression didn’t change drastically, but his focus was obviously on the little contours of Robotnik’s expression, taking in all the information his little eyes could. “Hello there, child. My, aren’t you a fast one?”

“Faster than these bots.” The boy muttered, gaining confidence with every word.

Ivo had to stop himself from groaning at the childishness. Of course he would say something so juvenile, the doctor rationalized. He  _ is _ a juvenile. “Yes, quite so! But it’s unfortunate that you seem to have found yourself surrounded.”

The boy mumbled something again, but quietly enough that Ivo couldn’t hear it. That was fine, the boy was learning not to talk back to people in power.

“Now then, kiddo, do you have a name?” Ivo prodded, knowing he’d have to gain the child’s trust quickly if he wanted the hedgehog to come willingly. The boy nodded once, though didn’t say anything more. Well, it was better than nothing. “Well, that’s fair. Perhaps I should introduce myself? I am Doctor Ivo Robotnik. What’s your name?”

The boy finally lowered his gaze, shrugging his shoulders heavily. “I don’t wanna tell you.”

Ivo could nearly huff with impatience if he were actually impatient. If he could spend decades planning and building, he could spend five minutes luring a child into his clutches. “And that’s still fair! We’ve only just met! it’s alright for you to feel uncomfortable giving your name to someone you’ve only just met. But I’ll need something to call you. How about I give you a nickname?”

The boy shrugged his shoulders again but was noticeably less tense than he had been. Ivo could’ve grinned when he noticed this.

“How about…” Ivo thought on it. What name would a child like? It had to be something cool enough for him to perhaps not only like but build themselves into, a name to aspire to. A name to be thankful to Robotnik for. “Well, you are quite fast, that I know. Fast, speed… lightning speed, sonic speed. Sonic. Sonic! I’ve got it: we’ll call you Sonic! Do you like that name?”

The boy, if his expression was anything to go by, indeed found the name cool, nodding sharply. Again his voice was too soft to hear, but Ivo could see him mouthing ‘yeah’.

“Well, Sonic, it looks like your shoes are in a bit of a pickle.” With Robotnik’s words, the child seemed to notice the state of damage that his footwear was in. “In order to celebrate your new name, how about I make some shoes for you? A pair that can keep up with you, hm?”

The boy almost seemed ecstatic at the prospect before he took in his surroundings again. What surrounded him, more accurately.

Ivo knew the boy just needed one more push before he trusted, however cautiously, the good doctor. “You needn’t worry about them. As long as you’re with me, none of the badniks will attempt to harm you.”

Sonic nodded in understanding, tiny legs walking towards Robotnik and his vehicle, which landed for him. The glass slid open and Ivo opened his arms, catching the hedgehog boy as he tried to jump in, too small to complete the jump on his own.

Ivo grinned warmly on the outside as he and the child made their way to his new palace, but was cackling madly on the inside. 


	2. Positive Re-enforcement

Sonic had never seen such a large building with so few living people in it.

Usually, his family’s own second-level apartment had him, his parents, and his uncle. That’s one more person than there were rooms. But in the palace, it was just him and Robotnik. And the badniks, of course. 

Doctor Robotnik himself wasn’t bad to be around, only talking when he realized Sonic’s attention was drifting away from the new shoes being built in front of the young boy. He had to admit, the Emperor designed them almost as quick as Sonic could run, throwing around words like ‘durability’ and ‘drag’. It all went over Sonic’s head, but when he asked the doctor had explained that it was all just a special way of saying that the design was made in a way to help him go faster for longer. That was cool.

The younger still hadn’t said much to the older, but the longer he was around Ivo, the more questions he had. Honestly, curiosity was getting to him and everything around him piqued that curiosity. What was that thing? What did that machine do? Why was everything so red? Then again, Ivo seemed to like red a lot, so maybe that wasn’t a question he really needed to ask.

“There we are!” Robotnik exclaimed suddenly, startling Sonic a bit. Boy, he’d really taken to that name like a fish to water, hadn’t he? “They’re complete! Sonic, would you like to try them on?” With a brief nod, the boy grabbed the shoes, slipping his old ones off. The new red ones were comfortable and made a pleasing tap when he took a step. “Well?” the Doctor asked, “Do you like them?”

Sonic looked at him observational gazes meeting each other. The boy nodded again with a grand thumbs up, still not speaking. He almost smiled, but thought better of it quickly.

“You don’t speak much, do you, Sonic?” The Doctor asked, nevertheless proud of the work he’d done on the stylistically red running shoes. “It’s ok, but I might not ask yes or no questions later on.”

Sonic’s expression took on an almost embarrassed look. “Anxious.” he mouthed, no sound coming out of his mouth, causing him to flinch at the lack of sound.

“Oh, I understand, kiddo.” Ivo said, feeling especially patient. “You know, there is a language you could learn that you needn’t speak for anyone to understand you. You use your hands; it’s called sign language. Would you like me to teach it to you so you don’t have to speak whenever you’re anxious?” 

Sonic beamed, again flashing a double thumbs up. When Robotnik rose from his chair and motioned for the boy to follow him, Sonic did, excited to start learning. “Not a lot of people know sign language, but luckily you’re with one of the people that do. We can get you started right away and I’m sure you'll be just as fast a learner as you are a sprinter!”

Sonic seemed up to the challenge if his excited speed-boosted buzzing was anything to go by. Ivo smirked, knowing the child would be completely wrapped around his finger within the week.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My headcanon is that classic! Sonic is selectively mute and learned sign language and that isn't changing in this AU.
> 
> Up Next: A New Day For the New People of Knothole!


	3. Collective Trauma

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We take a break from our father-son bonding to bring you the Freedom Fighters!

It had been about a month and a half since Mobotropolis had been lost.

King Nigel couldn’t bear to look his people in the eye and his son was still unaccounted for, though his sister still had hope that he was still hidden amongst the other refugees. Princess Sally, only 6 years old, had been incredibly brave since everything had happened. 

Out of the three royals accounted for, she was the only one who left the new palace regularly, oftentimes walking the streets and helping anyone who asked her for anything. She had helped in building defences, read to some of the children that had been turned orphans, and even established an HQ for volunteers who wanted to take back Mobotropolis. Which had landed Bunny in the still unfinished cave, helping to excavate dirt from around her. She was a couple of years older than Sally, but was always so impressed with her maturity, even with that Bunny herself had been through.

The door slid open behind Bunny, gaining her attention rather quickly. It was Sally, accompanied by three people, two of them shaking frightenedly. “Hey Bunny!” Sally greeted with a hug, so we’ve got a few new members.”

“Sally-girl, you must’ve been out recruiting a lot if you just doubled our numbers!” Bunny replied, a broad smile gracing her face.

Sally motioned for the three to come in, two of them trembling. “This kiddo right here is Miles Prowler, General Prowler’s son. But we just call him Tails.” Bunny supposed it was a fairly on-the-nose nickname, given the very young kid’s two tails.

She held her organic hand out for him to shake, a warm and disarming smile directed the small fox. “Well, it’s nice to meet you, Tails! I’m sure we’ll be the bestest of friends!” The kid looked starstruck, excitedly nodding in response.

“This guy right here,” Sally started, clasping the shoulder of the shaking coyote, closer to Bunny’s age than Tails, “is Antoine, trained in swordsmanship.”

Bunny shook his hand too, noting his light grip. “Your sword go through robots?”

“I would most certainly prefer it not too, mademoiselle, but oui, it can.” He was still shaking, but Bunny figured it was likely because he was still coming to terms with what he just signed up for as a literal child.

“I’m Rotor.” the tall Walrus introduced himself, offering his hand for Bunny to shake. “I’m from a bit up north and I heard what happened down here. Figured I could help. Engineering background.”   
  


“You too?” tails asked excitedly.

Rotor looked impressed with the kid at least eight years younger than him. “You engineer?”

“Well,” Tails began to get sheepish, “I do more design and computing, but yeah, I do.”

Rotor smiled, wrapping a large arm around the kid. “Well that’s great! I’m sure we can work together and get this HQ up to working order in no time!”

“Right!” Tails responded enthusiastically, twin tails twitching with elation.

The two rushed off to another part of the room with pens and papers and pencils, chattering about their plans. Antoine followed, curiosity piqued. Bunny looked on fondly, turning to Sally, who was practically buzzing with her own feelings of success. “Sally-girl, things are really looking up around here.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> By the time the Archie Comics were cancelled, Sonic was 15/16, but Bunny and Antoine were old enough to get married. I hc that Rotor is the oldest, Bunny and Antoine are second eldest, then Sally, then Sonic, then Tails and Amy (then Cream, if you count her as she was a junior FF last I remember).


	4. Familial Isolation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ivo knows how loneliness feels. And he knows Sonic needs that feeling if he is to succeed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> imma be honest, i feel bad for my boy im so mean to him

Sonic’s top speed was, so far, 1300 kilometres per hour which was just above 800 miles per hour. He could go on at his top speed for approximately 10 hours and could hit an object with the force of about 30,000 Newtons, though Dr. Robotnik had warned him of overexertion. “Just because you  _ can _ do something, doesn’t mean you  _ have _ to do something. Work smarter, not harder.”

In the three or so months since his welcome into Robotnik’s Empire, Sonic had learned and grown a lot, he’d say. He was still learning how to sign, but he was getting good at it. There was a lot to learn. Especially when Ivo tutored him too, mechanical design and engineering were at the forefront of his studies, though electrical mechanics and astronomy were probably his favorite classes. 

Robotnik was a good teacher and dare Sonic think it, a pretty decent father-figure too. He was stern when need be but encouraged the hedgehog’s curiosity and hyperactive nature to the extent that it didn’t damage anything important of course. In fact, just last week Ivo had told him that, under his law, he had adopted the boy and made him heir to the throne. Sonic wasn’t completely sure of the implications, he knew it was important. Robotnik had a couple of badniks bake them a cake for the occasion.

Things were pretty smooth-going until Robotnik asked, “Do you know what happened to your parents?”

Sonic was startled at the question, but Ivo was just as curious as him so it was bound to be on the doctor’s mind.  _ Not really. They were soldiers though, so they’re probably dead _ , he signed.

“Ah.” Ivo responded sympathetically. “I’m sorry to hear that.”

_ Don’t worry about it. They gave their lives for something they believed in their entire lives _ . Sonic replied, not ready to go into detail on the matter.

Ivo paused, but decided to continue. “Did you have any other family? Anyone else to look after you?” The Doctor was already well-aware that he did, but Sonic didn’t know that.

Sonic frowned, but allowed the question.  _ I had an Uncle, but I don’t think he survived either. _

“What was his name?” Ivo asked as delicately as he could, though his full voice didn’t allow for very much delicacy.

Sonic thought about it for a moment before he realized he had no idea how to sign “sir” or “knight”.  _ S-I-R. C-H-A-R-L-E-S. But I called him Uncle C-H-U-C-K. _

“Sir Charles is your uncle?” Ivo asked, trying to hide a grin. “He’s not dead.”

Sonic’s head rose to look into Ivo’s eye with a quickness.  _ What? _

“Several badniks reported seeing him evacuating. We can review the footage if you’d like.” Ivo offered, practically giddy with how well this was already going. “I save all the footage.”

Sonic nodded, the muscles in his little neck tight. He had to know for sure. Robotnik turned and led him into the palace’s lower levels, a bit underground and room full of pretty old hardware, wires everywhere along the ground and screens. They all booted up mostly in-sync, though Sonic noticed that a few were a bit slow. Robotnik furiously typed at the riketty keyboard, which was nothing like his holographic keyboards that he loved. 

An image popped up and it clearly showed a shuttle, tens of people boarding and one hedgehog, Uncle Chuck himself in the threshold. The still image played finally, showing Chuck leading people into the shuttle. Once it was full, he entered himself, not looking back into the fray and not seeming to look for anyone in particular. He wasn’t looking for Sonic and the shuttle lift off without the boy, taking Chuck with it.

“Well that doesn’t seem right at all.” Ivo expressed, solemn in his act. “He didn’t seem to look for you. That doesn’t seem right at all.”

“He left me behind.” Sonic realized, voice hoarse from disuse. “I could’ve died.”

“Nonsense!” Ivo seemed affronted. “I didn’t let it happen and I never would. I can’t speak for your uncle, but I care for you too much to see you dead. Come here, son.” Sonic methodically made his way closer to Ivo, close enough for the adoptive father to hug to boy to him. “You needn’t worry about what could’ve happened because I’m here now and I swear I won’t let anyone damage you, organic or inorganic.” Feeling small sobs against his neck, Ivo smiled. The boy has finally lost faith in the only person who could possibly turn him away from the Robotnik Empire.

It seems more intensive training was in order. Then, setting the boy on this supposed “Knothole Village” would be a day Ivo would look forward to.


	5. Adaptation

Snively hated hedgehogs with his very core.

First, a pair of hedgehogs defeated his battalion of badniks, forcing Uncle Ivo to save his rear and making the older lose his faith in his nephew. Then Snively loses his position to a five-year-old hyperactive selectively-mute hedgehog who runs fast who looks disturbingly similar to the two hedgehogs that had defeated him those six months ago. And the child was already almost as tall as him.

What a cruel place the world is.

Of course, Snively could always go after the child. “Sonic” is what his uncle called it. And it was pathetic, too scared to speak when it could. Scaring the rodent shouldn’t be too hard, nor something Snively would get in trouble for. After all, fear was how Ivo kept potential rebellions from growing and attacking.

Snively knew the hedgehog would be in its training room, the Acorn Monarchy’s old training grounds that had been moved underground and equipped with badniks and stun guns. These weapons were adjustable and adaptable, able to adjust their difficulty automatically to maximize “Sonic’s” training for the day. It was often done before and after his studies, an hour in either direction in time, currently in its after-study regiment. It’ll be in there for another perhaps two hours or three, depending on how quickly it wanted to get back to its electrical design it seems so pleased with. Plenty of time, either way, for Snively to make his way into the overhead control room and turning everything in the room to its highest setting, destroying the hedgehog that had taken his place as the great Doctor Ivo Robotnik’s right hand.

The thing was fast, Snively could give it that. As he watched from the over-head room’s windows, he saw the blue blur pinballing between four badniks before using another as a shield against the stun guns. It was almost impressive. What Snively would consider impressive was if the thing could survive the room with all the weapons on their highest settings turned on it mercilessly.

The dial was like all the others, but Snively saw it as pure gold, a key to his rightful place in line to the throne. He twisted it until it hit a hundred, taking glee in the increased hum of the machinery below. The rodent didn’t seem to know what was going on, visually panicking at the increased speed and strength of the machines. That was until it looked up and saw Snively and his wicked grin. The hedgehog scowled and what he did next inserted fear into the heart of the human. Sonic seemed to vibrate for a moment before electricity coated his body, which in a flash ran through every single badnik in the room with him. After finishing with the machines, he propelled himself up the side of the room and smashed his way into the glass that protected Snively from the weapons below. Snively fell back in his attempt to get out of the way, covering his face to protect against the glass. He felt hands on his neck, lifting him and shoving him against the walkway that led to the control room.

“Coward.” A scratchy voice spat at him. Snively lowered his arms, hands trying to loosen the grip around his neck. “Did you think it’d be easy? Killing me?”

“Rodent!” Snively cried back, feeling tears on his cheeks. “I should be the heir, I --”

Before he finished, Sonic threw him to the control panel, his head dangling pathetically out of the broken window. “If my father thought you were worthy, he would’ve named you as the heir  _ before _ he adopted me.” On the bright side, Snively thought, this was the most he’d heard the hedgehog speak at once. Snively felt Sonic’s feet on his torso and neck, gazing in fear at the angry child. Sonic smirked, then signed something Snively knew quite well: he flipped the human off.

Just when Snively thought the hedgehog would kick him out of the room and into the room below, the weight lifted off of him. He sat up to see Sonic walk out of the control room as if he didn’t care about what had just happened. 

Sonic tried not to care, but he could tell Snively would be a problem in the future. How far into the future, he didn’t know. What he did know was that Doctor Robotnik would probably like to hear about what happened before he saw the amount of damage they had caused himself.

He dashed up several levels to Ivo’s lab, not minding the badniks guarding the halls. He entered the room with an echoing knock. Robotnik put his tools down to turn towards Sonic, his now-normal fatherly smile aimed towards the young boy. “Sonic! I thought you’d be training by now?”

_ S-N-I-V-E-L-Y. He interrupted me. Very rude. _ Sonic signed, decreasing adrenaline taking his confidence with it, though not taking his sarcasm.  _ Tried to kill me using my own badniks. I’m a bit disappointed he didn’t try to just do it himself. _

“Did he now?” Ivo glared, though Sonic knew it wasn’t at him. “And what would you like me to do about it?”

_ Nothing. I’ve scared him for now and at the very least he can be useful. If he tries something like that again, I’ll be a little more drastic. Or kill him. I guess it depends on how patient I am at the moment. _ Sonic replied, peaking at Robotnik’s blueprints but not getting a real good look.

“Are you sure? Aren’t you worried about him?” Robotnik asked, glare eased from his face.

Sonic chuckled silently.  _ Worried about him? S-N-I-V-E-L-Y? He’s annoying at best and useless at worst. There’s nothing to worry about with him. Though my training room is a bit messy because of him. _

“Alright, son. Just let me know if there’s any more trouble. And I’ll have Snively repair the room as punishment.” Ivo responded, more plans for those two running through his head as fast as Sonic ran.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In Archie Comics, Snively is the (pathetic) nephew of Eggman who's cowardly and a bit of an idiot, but he constantly tried to win Eggman's favour, but it never worked.
> 
> That doesn't change here, but he certainly has more competition.
> 
> Here we see how Robotnik's teachings have started to influence Sonic in pretty major ways.


	6. Crowded Isolationism

Sally was extremely thankful for Tails right now. He was such an efficient little guy.

He’d spent the last eight months working with Rotor on completing the Freedom Fighters HQ and built posts that not only created a shield around the entire village but also made the shield look like forest plant life, effectively disguising the population from potential attacks. Then, in his free time, Tails created an AI which he gave to Sally for her seventh birthday.

The AI, Nicole, was quickly making its way into Sally’s heart. It had a warm voice and polite mannerisms, and let Sally know how safe Knothole was every time the princess asked. Nicole was connected to the entire town’s public network and the palace’s own security grid, always locking down every night, guarding along with the actual mobian guards. Sally thought of Nicole sort of like a security blanket. It was nice having her around.

It was Tails she was worried about. 

Tails seems to have bonded with Rotor and Bunny, both of them very open with the boy. Rotor always encouraged Tails’ work and would help him a lot of the time, but the younger seemed to regard their relationship as purely professional and not platonically like Rotor seemed to be trying to do. Bunny was also making an effort, but she couldn’t really keep up with conversations that included his interests. Sally tried too, but she had a lot of responsibilities that pulled her away from her efforts to connect with the fox. Antoine didn’t seem to know how to approach Tails in the first place.

Not that Tails seemed to mind. He seemed to realize that he had a lot of energy and used that to study badnik remains and keep maintenance up on the shield generators and coming up with new designs. Sally worried about him, but not his work.

Sally did worry about Rotor’s work though. The walrus experimented with flying devices that were, while useful, bulky and heavy and didn’t lift off very far. This was likely because Rotor avoided using jets as he worried that the noise might attract undue attention. 

Bunny constantly trained with Antoine, so they were fine. They laid out some firearms near the shield generators, prioritizing protecting the shields over fighting anything that might put the village in danger. A smart idea, Sally had to admit.

All this work and yet Sally could feel something missing; it didn’t feel like a complete team. They seemed to split up between engineering, fighting, and strategy. If it weren’t for Nicole, Sally would feel quite lonely. 

She wished she could ask Elias for advice.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In this AU, Elias Acorn never made it out of Mobotropolis. His ultimate fate, however, is yet to be determined.


	7. Anxiety

Robotnik called Sonic into his office and for some reason the hedgehog didn’t like the sound of it.

He most certainly trusted his adopted father, but something felt off about today. Then again, everything had been building up. His training had intensified for the past couple of months, his studies ramped up, all as if the Doctor had been preparing him for an invasion of some sort. Which was odd because he thought he did pretty good that one time Robotnik had him fight someone on an actual battlefield.

Walking into the office, Sonic couldn’t help but notice Ivo’s huge smile. It wasn’t like the ones he usually directed at Sonic; this was more reminiscent of the smiles he had when one of his inventions was a success, or when he found another survivor of his invasion in hiding, or when he found Sonic could absorb rings’ power, or when he saw Sonic capture the Mobotropolis Underground Resistance’s leader about eight months into living with the emperor.

“Ah, Sonic.” Ivo said, failing to drop his smile. “I’ve a very important task for you, son.” Sonic could definitely say he’s nervous now. “I’ve found the general location of Knothole Village, the place the survivors of Robotropolis fled too. Which is also where Charles should be.” Sonic winced at the name, anger flaring in his gaze; still, he didn’t interrupt Ivo. “I need you to infiltrate the Village and send me the exact coordinates and details of whatever security they have. Is that understood?”

Sonic nodded, though he was sure his uncertainty was clear on his face.  _ How are we doing this? _

If it were possible, Ivo’s smile grew even broader. “After I’ve given you the general location and a communicator, I’ll tell Snively that you’re a turncoat. He’ll go after you, which should be convincing enough to get the people of Knothole to trust you, if you being Sir Charles’ nephew isn’t enough reason already.”

_ Right _ . Sonic replied, though still wasn’t completely sure about the operation.  _ What do I say if I see him though? _

“You can say whatever you want so long as it doesn’t jeopardize your mission.” Robotnik replied, losing his carefully crafted patience. “I’ve put many hours of thought into this, Sonic. Of course I would, given that I’m sending my only child behind enemy lines! But we need this if we want the resistance against our empire to end quickly. Do you understand?”

_ Yes, sir. _ Sonic really did understand but that didn’t stop his unease at the prospect of seeing his Uncle again, or leaving Robotropolis in general. And that was just the tip of the iceberg given that presumably, Snively was going to try to kill him again. And that was if everything went according to plan. He’d hate to see what happens if things went wrong.  _ I’ve only been here for little more than a year. Do you really think I’m ready for this? _

“But of course, my boy! You’ve grown tremendously!” Robotnik burst, already knowing that the hedgehog would be on his way to Knothole within the hour. “You’re the only one I trust to do this, after all. Your capabilities are astounding, son.”

  
Sonic swallowed down his nerves, blaming them on the importance of the mission rather than his own real fear.  _ Right. Thank you. Where am I heading? _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We finally get to Robotnik's plan for Sonic, jeez


	8. Paranoia

Sonic had been lightly jogging for about an hour now, getting nearly 5,000 kilometres which is more than 3,000 miles when Snively finally caught up to him. It was practically in the middle of nowhere long-abandoned fields, the only thing that surrounded him and a terribly-misplaced forest.

“I’ve finally caught up, Rodent!” Snively hissed, his mech whirring as it moved to attack Sonic. “Nothing to help you here!”

Sonic couldn’t respond, but didn’t seem to need to. As the machine’s huge arm came down, he dodged, knowing he may need to drag the fight out before he could lure any of these “Freedom Fighters” out. He countered quickly, but not powerfully, just barely denting the gauntlet, huge as it was built for power. Snively was going to go for power against someone who could dodge quicker than the machine could move and Sonic honestly thought it was a bit pathetic.

Until he saw Snively’s backup.

There were hundreds of badniks and it almost reminded Sonic of what happened a year ago. Except Robotnik wasn’t there to protect him. He was on his own until the Freedom Fighters arrived, if they arrived.

He could fight the badniks, which would take longer and create enough noise to lure potential people out, but that would leave Snively unaccounted for and Sonic knew he’d be going after him the entire time. The plan wasn’t the greatest, but it was the best he had to accomplish his mission. He could probably deal with Snively when these potential fighters arrived.

He pinballed between badniks, destroying five before he had to dodge fire. Loud fire, lurring fire. Hopefully.

Badniks’ legs were destroyed along the way, metallic clanking around him. He could hear Snively yelling for the badniks to move for him to get a clear shot, but Sonic didn’t allow it, carefully avoiding the mech’s feet.

Only two dozen or so had been destroyed before Snively lost his patience, bringing the arm down again and destroying some of his own backup. “Stop running and fight me, boy!”

Sonic couldn’t say he was scared, but he could say he was concerned. If Snively kept this up, the debris might catch Sonic, or the fight might be over before someone spotted them. Looks like he needed a change in plans.

A spin dash to Snively’s chassis unbalanced the robot, allowing Sonic to land back into the open. When Snively gained enough sense to look at Sonic, the hedgehog threw a raspberry Snively’s way, silently chuckling at the man’s furious expression. Missiles fired at the boy, who dodged them all, running beneath them and slamming into the chassis again. Upon kick-off, however, the machine caught Sonic’s ankle, throwing him closer to the oddly-placed forest. He sat up with a cringe only to be met with the sight of missiles launching towards him again. Just as he was about to get up and run, a mass slammed into his side and carried him out of the way of the missiles. He could sense an increase in altitude before his brain really caught up with him. He was being carried bridal-style by a rabbit, who seemed to have jets for feet and a mechanical arm.

“Hey there, sugar-hog.” the girl’s voice, accented, seemed to try to sooth him. She was moving to land, considering a gentle approach for the being in her arms “I’m Bunnie and I’m with the Freedom Fighters. You’re safe now.”

It worked! Sonic had no desire to celebrate though, aware that there were people standing against Snively who was yelling angrily and near-incoherently at them. There was a coyote, a fox, a walrus, and a chipmunk. Sonic recognized the chipmunk as the missing princess. Well. Sonic certainly didn’t expect that.

Bunnie landed a bit behind them but at a distance that Sonic could see that they were all around his age, the most being three or four years older. Bunnie gained his attention again saying, “You took a bit of a hit, sugar. Where are you hurt?”

Sonic shook his head. He was able to deal with a little pain here and there. He stood and offered his own hand to Bunnie, who’d been kneeling over him, ready to apply first-aid where needed. She took his hand, eyeing him carefully as he joined the Freedom Fighters, smirking cockily towards Snively.

“You!” Snively yelled towards Sonic, charging him without much of a thought for the rest of the people present before him. “I’ll kill you!”

Sonic pushed the others out of the way and jumped above the arm of the robot, surprising the Fighters with his speed. Another spin dash to the chassis had wires exposed and sparking. The Fighters seemed to focus on the badniks, though Sonic could hear a voice commanding Bunnie to help him with the “invasion mech”.

Bunnie’s mechanical hand fired a shot onto the back of Snively’s bot, drawing his attention away from the small hedgehog, long enough so Sonic could run up to it and rip at the wires, forcing the machine to seemingly shut down, though the eggmobile that housed Snively rolled out before floating up.

He looked panicked as Sonic stood ready to attack the vehicle and Bunnie aimed her arm at him again. “Badniks! Protect your leader! R-Retreat!” Snively didn’t wait for the badniks to listen, flying away quickly and angrily badniks following after a second. When the last badnik turned their back, the other Freedom Fighters approached Sonic and Bunnie, the latter of which was already congratulating the surprised hedgehog on a job well-done.

“Hi!” Sally greeted, extending her hand to him with a sparkle in her eyes. “I’m Sally Acorn, leader of the Freedom Fighters!”

“And our resident princess.” the coyote added, boosting the girl’s incoming recruitment he knew was coming.

Sally continued, “This is Bunnie, Tails, Rotor, and Antoine. What’s your name?”

 _Do you sign?_ Sonic responded, noticing her and the other Fighters looking surprised.

Sally recovered quickly though. _A little. Deaf?_

 _No, I can hear you guys. I’m just mute most of the time. My name is S-O-N-I-C._ Sonic replied, noticing that the small fox’s observational glance.

Sally smiled brightly at him, turning towards the others to translate. “Don’t worry, he can hear us. Let me introduce you to Sonic!” The others quickly got over their surprise and went to shake his hand, congratulating him on his defeat of Snively. “As much as he was so cool in that fight, we should probably get back to the village, and be careful to not be followed, ok?”

A couple of groans emerged from the group, but they moved nonetheless. They headed towards the forest without much thought of how to navigate through the trees, Sonic looking towards Bunnie in confusion. She noticed and a huge smile greeted Sonic’s eyes. “Don’t worry about the trees, sugar. Just watch, it’ll be cool.”

Sonic kept walking with a pain in his ankle, even as Rotor ahead of them seemed to suddenly disappear. It was another second before he stepped and there was suddenly a village before him. He stepped back and forth, trees then a sudden village. How?

Rotor laughed at his reaction, pulling him to stay in the village. “Like that? A shield that covers the entire village, designed to protect and disguise, all designed by our main man, Tails!”

The fox child looked sheepish and humble. “I just wanted to do my part, it’s really nothing.”

Sonic flashed him a smile and a grand thumbs up, for some reason satisfied at the excitement and encouragement growing in the kid’s eyes. He’d probably be nice to have around while he was here.

“Well, Sonic,” Sally smiled again, proud of the village she seemed to present to him, “welcome to Knothole.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So Sonic's finally at Knothole, after a year living and training and being raised by Dr. Robotnik! And with a warm welcome!


	9. Betrayal

Sonic had yet to be left alone. This was putting a bit of a delay on his plans.

He could understand from the Freedom Fighter’s point that leaving someone they just met alone especially after finding out that this new guy had a sprained ankle that he was trying to hide from them, but it really wasn’t necessary and it was stopping him from checking out that AI that was overseeing all of Knothole’s defenses. He thanked them for wrapping his ankle though, that was nice. 

They started to give him a tour after finding out that he wouldn’t accept crutches or a wheelchair, Tails behind him to make sure he didn’t stumble or injure himself any further in his bullheadedness. He saw the Freedom Fighters HQ, which seemed to have recently finished its construction, the palace, which was obviously the first thing finished in this town, and a town square, small businesses already popping up.

“Pretty neat, huh?” Sally asked, leading him back to the palace when Tails took his leave with Rotor.

Sonic was still taking in his surroundings, the sun so much brighter here than in Robotropolis. Everything was bright, but he had to admit that he kind of missed the red.  _ Yeah, it’s so nice. It’s really bright here. _

Sally smiled, though Sonic could detect a hint of confusion at his observation. “Great! And you know, since you were helping and fought that invasion mech, I figured that you could stay at the palace with me and my parents. If that’s ok with you, of course.”

_ That’s really generous. _ Sonic responded immediately, taken aback by the offer.  _ Are you sure? You just met me. _

“Of course!” Sally responded without a moment of hesitation. She baffled every lesson Ivo had given to him about her, portraying her as tyrannical as he admitted he was. “You’ll need a home and my family and I have the means to give you a home. It’s just something I should do either way.”

Sonic didn’t respond, but frankly didn’t have to, continuing to follow Sally to the palace again before he stopped in his tracks, unable to find a reason to get any closer to who he saw: there out and laughing was Uncle Chuck, looking happy and healthy, joking with a chipmunk with a crown on his head, presumably the king and Sally’s father. He looked like nothing happened.

Sally noticed him stop, turning back around to ask when she saw tears in his eyes. “Sonic? What’s wrong? Is it your ankle?”

_ That’s my uncle. _ Was his only response, lost as to what to do or how to feel other than the same wave of overwhelming betrayal that he felt when he saw Chuck leave without him.

Sally looked between Sonic and Chuck and he could see the wires connecting in her mind, realization dawning in her eyes as much as her expression. “Oh! So you’re Oggie! Well, we’ll have to let him know that you have a new name now, right?” Sally tried, but stopped when she saw that his tears were now falling.

Shaking, Sonic shook his head. _He left me in the city._ _He left me behind. I was there for a year because he didn’t look for me_. He knew he was shaking and rambling a bit, but Sally seemed to understand if her expression was anything to go by; it morphed from worry to understanding to hot anger, though he could tell it wasn’t directed at him.

“We’ll just pass him by, ok? You don’t need to talk to him and we’ll slip into the palace. Come on, I’ll hold your hand.” Sally offered her hand, which Sonic gratefully took, wiping his tears as they approached the king and Chuck.

When they were close enough to notice, Chuck noticed them first, a double-take shocking his system. King Nigel also double-took, realization coming slower than Chuck’s own. Chuck looked Sonic up and down, almost disbelieving of what he was seeing. “Oggie? You-you’re alive, I-”

Sally interrupted Chuck, looking into the eyes of her father with meaning. “Daddy, this is Sonic, he’s mute. We found him fighting an invasion mech and he’s super fast. But he needs a place to stay. Can he stay with us?”

“He’s my nephew, he can stay with me.” Chuck responded before Nigel, taking a step towards the hedgehog before realizing that the boy was taking a step back, away from him. “Oggie?”

“His name is Sonic.” Sally reiterated, positioning herself between the knight and the child. “And he doesn’t want to stay with you. Daddy?”

King Nigel took in the situation before him, noticing the tear stains in Sonic’s fur, his gaze making the boy shrink more than he already had. The sadness in Sonic’s eyes, the ferocity in his own daughter’s. It wore down at Nigel quickly. “Alright. We can set him up in Elias’ room.”

Sally’s expression brightened quickly, hugging her father quickly before grabbing Sonic’s hand again. “Thank you daddy!” Sonic signed a thank you to the king as he was dragged inside by the princess. He could hear Chuck saying something animatedly through the door as it closed behind him, though he was drowning in his own relief too much for him to care nor hear what he was saying. She turned to him again once they were deeper into the palace, some distance away from the door. “Are you ok? That wasn’t too bad, was it”

Sonic flashed her a thumbs up, but his hands were shaking too much for it to be convincing. Sally frowned at the obvious lie, but didn’t push it. “You’ve had a long day, Sonic. I’ll show you to your room and get you a glass of water, ok? Try to get some rest, alright?”

Sonic nodded, willing his feet to move as Sally gently guided him to his new room. It was soft and warm and already had posters and a gaming system, perfectly stylized for a boy maybe a bit older than Sonic currently was. “This is going to be my brother’s room when we find him, so make sure it stays clean and nothing gets broken.” 

Nigel’s mention of ‘Elias’ room’ made more sense to Sonic now, weighing heavy on his heart. How was he supposed to tell them that he knew Elias wasn’t coming back? Did he tell them? Did it matter when he was here to destroy them? With all this hospitality?

“Just call me if you need anything, ok?” Sally left him with those instructions, unknowingly driving the dagger deeper. “And take care of your ankle!”

He knew he should listen to her, but first he had a doctor to update, plans to take care of those shields right next to Chuck at the forefront of his mind.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sonic has had his first encounter with the uncle that 'betrayed him'. And I decided this AU didn't have enough angst. Oops.


	10. Sense of Impending Doom

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i've decided that this fic is probably going to have multiple arcs after this one, i just like writing it so much

If ever there might be a doting father, he could very well be Ivo Robotnik. At least, according to Sonic. Snively might not agree.

When Sonic had set up the video call, making sure his room was devoid of both physical and technological eyes and ears, Robotnik had fretted and worried, and by the time Sonic was through telling him about his day, Ivo had threatened Chuck with all sorts of horrors for the crime of making Sonic uncomfortable, nevermind the fact that Sonic had cried. The horrors threatened for that were unspeakable. 

“Remember, son: the Acorn family doesn’t want anyone to know how mean they are, least of all someone as strong as you. They’ll act nice, but they just want your power, as they’ve always wanted power. Don’t let them deceive you!” With those parting words, Robotnik went back to his work, knowing to keep it quick while Sonic was in the palace of the enemy.

The realization that Sally could be just as terrible as her parents was one that left Sonic feeling empty. He knew he wasn’t supposed to get attached to these people, but she was just so nice to him. It seemed genuine. Like some of the friendships he had in kindergarten before Robotnik improved the city. Maybe better, given that he and Sally were both a lot smarter than the average kindergarten-aged child and were probably more capable of developing relationships based off of something greater than who in class had the cooler toys. Then again, a lot of her toys were really cool.

Like Nicole.

Sonic was a bit confused when he heard the name Nicole in conversation, but when he found that it was the AI’s name, it made a lot more sense. What made less sense was the fact that apparently it was sentient and it had such power from the shields surrounding it that it created a physical form of a lynx around Sally and Sonic’s age. It made less sense and it posed a danger to his mission. 

It would make him be a bit more careful about how much he got into contact with Ivo and how much information he could send at a single instance, but he was sure he’d manage. Maybe it was for good, given that Ivo was the only person he actually spoke to for a year and three months, give or take a couple of days.

Sally and Sonic had decided to go for another walk to a hot dog stand, but it had turned into Sonic giving Sally a piggy-back ride rather quickly. Those chili dogs were worth all this anxiety, he swore.

When he was done with his dogs, Sally laughed, handing him a few napkins. “You really enjoyed those, didn’t you?”

Sonic nodded, hands too full of napkin to reply. His ears twitched, picking up on feet approaching them. They were too light to be Chuck’s. He looked over to see Tails converging on them, shy in his stride.

_ Hello  _ the kit signed, hands obviously unsure.

Sonic signed back, sally stunned for a moment. “You learned sign language?”

“Just a few words like ‘hello’ and ‘thank you’ and stuff like that. Not much.” Tails replied and even through the child’s thick fur Sonic swore he could see his blush. 

_ Good job! _ Sonic replied to the admission, making sure he lips were readable.  _ Super cool! _

If such a thing were possible, Tails blushed deeper.  _ Thank you! _ “I wanted to let you guys know that I installed a couple of more video games at HQ if you guys want to play.”

_ I’ve never played video games _ . Sonic admitted.

“You’ve never played?” Sally asked, giving Tails enough information to know what Sonic had signed. “We can introduce you to your first game then!”

Tails smiled brightly, bouncing in his shoes. “We have a couple of racing games I’m sure you’ll like! Let’s go!”

Sonic flashed his now-normal thumbs up, reaching for Sally before stopping with an idea.  _ Hey, S-A-L, can you translate? _

“Sure thing!” Sally responded, stopping Tails from going. “He asked me to translate.”

_ Has he ever tried to use his tails like propellers? _ Sonic asked, leaving Sally stunned for a moment.

Sally turned to Tails slowly, at a bit of a loss for how to ask Tails such an odd question. “He wants to know if you’ve ever...used your tails like propellers?”

Tails was equally stunned, looking back at Sonic owlishly.  _ He’d have to rotate his tails quickly, of course, but I’m sure if it’s possible to do something like that, it’d be him! _ Sonic encouraged, curious to see if his idea would work.

“He said that your tails would have to go really fast, but he believes in you!” Sally translated again, getting excited at the idea of Tails flying. “And so do I!”

Tails still seemed stunned, but had a glint of determination in his eye. He took a second of his tails twitching before they started spinning, slowly but gaining speed steadily. It was another few seconds before Tails could feel himself getting lighter, feet lifting from the ground. 

Sonic and Sally both clapped in excitement, encouraging Tails’ new ability. Sonic turned towards Sally with a spark in his eye.  _ Hold his hand. Tight. _

Sally did as Sonic commanded, her and Tails both confused. “Sure? Why-?” She stopped herself with a yelp when Sonic scooped her up and raced off, Tails flying and Sally using her other arm to wrap around Sonic. They were at Freedom Fighters HQ in less than five seconds, startling Rotor who was at the door.

“Tails?! Are you flying?!” Rotor stuttered out, bewildered.

Tail nodded excitedly, already adapting to flying by floating a bit closer to the Walrus. “Yeah! Sonic thought of using my tails like propellers! Isn’t it awesome?!”

The scene was rather picturesque, a princess in his arms and friends ready to play with him. It was too bad it’d all burn sooner or later.

Sonic vowed to enjoy it while it was here, before he had to complete his mission.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> oh, ivo...the irony


	11. Manipulation

Robotnik was ever-evolving, just as the nature of technology had when humanity reigned supreme. Just as muskets had evolved into machine guns, so too must Ivo evolve into something more lethal. 

For that, he needed the Chaos Emeralds and the Master Emerald.

He’d found it in his research years ago before his sister had even birthed Snively, but they didn’t really matter until now. With them, his armies could be powered for the rest of eternity, could guarantee that his empire would live on even after the explosion of the sun in some billions of years. And he had just the “son” to help him get them.

He could send badniks after the solitary emerald he located within his own territory, but he knew there was one way to bring the others, including the Master Emerald to him. Or more specifically, to Sonic. Who would bring them to him.

The echidna race was wiped out thousands of years ago save for one, who was the sole guardian of the Master Emerald, which controlled and charged the seven chaos emeralds. Sonic could and will beat him, easily. How tough could a thousand-year-old echidna be anyway?

And if this guardian did pose a threat, injured or even killed Sonic, the Freedom Fighters would fight the guardian in his place, luring them out long enough for Robotnik to kill all of them. A win-win really.

He’d send the emerald to Sonic, the guardian would come with a vengeance to the boy, who could take the Master Emerald from said guardian, which could be used to locate the other emeralds. And if Sonic couldn’t get the Master Emerald, he’d still have one of the lesser emeralds and his fighting the guardian could distract the echidna long enough for Robotnik himself to grab the Master Emerald.

With a plan in mind, Robotnik prepared to contact the boy, giddy with the potential of more power.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> a little more insight into Robotnik...
> 
> i made my heart hurt...


	12. Rehabilitation

When Ivo messaged him, it seemed rather frantic, as if he was on a time limit. He’d been told that there was a gem that was being hunted. Bringing the gem to Knothole would mean the hunter would follow, doing Sonic and Robotnik’s job for them as well as bringing a larger gem that could be used as a powersource, which they could take from under the thousand-year-old hunter’s nose.

It seemed simple enough: Robotnik would send another group of badniks, one of which would carry the “Chaos Emerald”, which he would carry to the village or the Freedom Fighters HQ. It’d lure out the person they needed to lure out, which should cause a pretty destructive fight. After the fight, he and his father would take the larger Emerald and win.  _ Win. _

What does that even mean? Doesn’t someone have to lose in order for another to win?

It was only his second week here, but a morning jog had already become rather routine. Conveniently, that’s when he would pretend to stumble across a transport of badniks, perfectly timed to pass with enough time for Sonic to contact the rest of the Freedom Fighters. Of course, that was all determined by how quickly Sonic could avoid Chuck.

Chuck had also come to the routine of waiting outside the palace to try and talk to Sonic on his way out for his morning jog. He had varying degrees of success; if Sally left with him, she’d shield Sonic from Chuck’s pleading, pretending to teach him how to use his new FF communication watch again. If Chuck seemed like he didn’t get enough sleep the night before, it was easy to rush by him. If Chuck was pacing in front of the door, Sonic would leap over him and bolt, though Chuck would often try in vain to catch up with the boy.

Today was looking like a leap-and-chase day. Sonic lept, barely feeling Chuck’s quills under him before he landed and trekked out, Chuck not so hot on his heels but certainly trying.He went on his normal path, sure Chuck would lose his way through the forest. Once he got to his usual enclave, Sonic slid into a small pocket between trees and a boulder, keeping himself under the cover of shade. 

Right on cue, a trail of badniks travelled, capturing small woodland creatures along their way. There were a few more than what he had expected, but he figured the fight would be all the more believable. Just as he was preparing to jump down and page the FF, he heard huffing behind him, heavy feet falling behind him. They paused, but the huffing didn’t.

“Oggie? Are you hurt? What’s happened -” Chuck cut himself when Sonic turned to face him, shushing him with a finger to his lips before he turned back around. The elder didn’t seem to understand until he followed Sonic’s gaze, startling at the sight of so many badniks. Chuck whispered, “It’s ok, if we turn back now we can avoid them. We -”

Sonic stopped listening then, jumping down and video-calling HQ. Rotor answered. “Sonic? What’s up?” Sonic turned his arm for Rotor to get a good view of the robots, making sure as he kicked off the head of the first one that the walrus got a good view of the creatures being contained. “Oh geez! I’ll scramble the team, think you can handle them for a minute or two?”

Sonic nodded in the affirmative before homing three badniks and tripping a fourth. If he really wanted, he probably could get through a good amount of these badniks before the freedom Fighters arrived, but he did have appearances to maintain. Just as he was about to run through another, he heard an unwelcome familiar voice behind him. “I’ve got your back, Oggie!”

Charles rolled his sleeves up, and slid down from Sonic’s original perching point, adopting a stance that divulged the man’s intention to actually box the badniks. Sonic may have slapped his forehead at the sheer idiocy of the idea. Chuck was quickly swatted away by a badnik, Sonic destroying it quickly as it took aim at the grounded older hedgehog.

The boy took a moment standing atop the badnik to look down at Chuck who was embarrassed and sheepish and hurt all at once. Before Chuck could thank Sonic, the boy dismissed him with a noncommittal wave of his hand already moving to destroy several more badniks. Chuck sat up from his prone position, watching his nephew and the newly-arrived Freedom Fighters save the animals and destroy the last of the badniks.

He also watched as Sonic investigated a badnik that seemed to be glowing, reaching into its destroyed chassis and pulling out a perfectly-cut gem. Sonic’s hands seemed to glow, catching the attention of the other Freedom Fighters. Sonic dropped it in surprise, Rotor picking it up as Sally and Tails inspected Sonic’s hands for any injury and energy respectively. The gem didn’t glow in Rotor’s hand as it had in Sonic’s, which became the center of attention of the children if their increased chattering was anything to go by.

Chuck approached, listening to Tails as he gained the attention of the group around him. “...to HQ, I can analyze the energetic and atomic properties of the gem. It might take a little longer than you might hope for, Sonic.”

Sonic pouted in good nature before noticing Chuck approaching. “I can see if those properties match anything from what information we salvaged from Mobotropolis.” Chuck offered, nervously eying between the group. Sally gave Sonic a meaningful look, who responded with a vague shrug. 

“Thank you, Charles.” Sally responded, tone completely professional before she turned back to Sonic. “Since it seems to react to you, we’re going to need you to stay around while Tails analyzes it. Is that ok?”

_ Yeah, it’s all good. _ Sonic responded goodnaturedly.  _ I’m just bummed my morning run got interrupted. _

“Well I can go on a evening run with you later to make up for it!” Tails offered, excited at the prospect of flying along with Sonic.

_ Sure thing, bud!  _ Sonic responded, ready to head to HQ. The Freedom Fighters set off, leaving Chuck to make his own way back to his office, feeling alone but hopeful.


	13. Conflict

Sonic had been sitting still for over an hour now, and if anything could get Antoine unsettled within the safe confines of the Freedom Fighters HQ, it might just be that. The smaller boy had walked back with the rest of them --  _ walked _ \-- after the battle and had stuck close to the gem, just as Sally requested. He’d sat next to Tails' desk when they arrived, observing the fox and the gem carefully. And not running.

“Sonic?” Antoine asked, prying Sonic’s eyes away from the work for the first time in an hour, “are you alright? The gem did not mess anything up, oui?”

_ I’m ok. _ Sonic responded.  _ It was weird. Like getting shocked, but not terribly. It was nice and warm. _

Antoine blinked, trying to process what Sonic signed. “I don’t think I caught all of that. A good shock?” When Sonic nodded, Antoine was still confused. “Huh. Are you sure you’re not -”

There was a violent knock at the door, a thud against the metal that dented the door before it was completely ripped off the hinges and kicked far into the room. Antoine turned to the door, being the closest, and felt himself flying to the other side of the room, an impact connecting with his chest. When he looked up, Sonic had already lunged at whatever it was that struck him --  _ was that an echidna? _

Sonic rushed the two of them outside, something seeming to catch his attention and shock him long enough for the red echidna to punch him in the face. Tails raced out after the duo as Bunnie helped Antoine up. “Are you alright, ‘toine?”

“I feel like I’ve been hit by un autobus.” Antoine replied, still trying to regain his balance. “I try to avoid being punched, but whoever that was punches like nothing I’ve ever seen or felt.” Bunnie scowled at the information, mechanical limbs humming.

Sally and Rotor raced out to help and stopped immediately in awe. Above them floated a huge mass of rock, maybe land, a floating island above their heads. As much as Rotor would like to observe it more, he looked away, seeing the echidna punch at -- and thankfully miss -- Tails before somehow catching Sonic’s spin dash before the hedgehog kicked off of the assailant’s chest.

Bunnie fired at him as Rotor went around to slam into him, but neither of those things seemed to have worked as he just rampaged more, Sonic and the echidna still clashing. Tails flew, somewhat wobbly up before launching himself down onto the echidna’s head. The fighter seemed unbothered, grabbing Tails’ feet and launching him away. 

Sonic gasped in worry and moved towards Tails before he was stuck in a dead hold by the echidna, who seemed to notice that he was very quickly getting surrounded. He smirked and grabbed Sonic around the waist and suddenly went flying, leaving the other Freedom Fighters on the ground.

Sonic felt himself high in the air yet still somehow felt the ground on his back before he realized they had flown to the floating island, isolating him from potential back-up. “Now,” the echidna started, voice deeper than Sonic was expecting, “you’re going to explain to me why you have so much chaos energy and what you want with the chaos emeralds.”


	14. Adaptive Significance

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A new player has entered the arena!

So half of that didn’t make a lick of sense, but Sonic sort of expected that given that Ivo hadn’t said anything about “chaos energy” specifically, but he guessed that was to be expected.

He sort of found some form of comedy in the echidna’s questions, knowing he couldn’t answer. Which angered the red creature. “Hey! Didn’t you hear me! Answer me!” He seemed to seethe more and more with each passing second that Sonic didn’t answer him.

Sonic was too entertained to not poke the sleeping bear, so to speak. He stuck his tongue out at the other boy before racing up and socking him in the jaw, relishing in the feel of something other than metal against his fist. That is until he barely dodged a counter-blow, the claws scraping at Sonic’s stomach. He could see this was probably going to be the most challenging fight he’s had in over a year at this point. The other boy swiped at him furiously and it was Sonic could do to dodge and try to counter. 

Of course, the echidna didn’t need to know that. Sonic continued to tease him, sticking his tongue out and making a show of dodging every punch that was thrown at him. That is until he uppercut him, Sonic’s head snapping back violently. Sonic stumbled back, vaguely aware that the Freedom Fighters had finally made their way up onto the floating island, though he couldn’t make out what it was that Sally seemed to be shouting. Whatever it was, it seemed to gain his opponent’s attention long enough for Sonic to regain his footing. His fist vibrated quickly, electricity building up until Sonic punched the echidna, lightning making contact with his face before Sonic’s fist.

The echidna was pushed back by the impact several yards, looking shocked in more than one way when he landed, eyes immediately landing on Sonic’s still vibrating fist. Just as the echidna started to spring back at Sonic, a reignited spark in his eyes, Sally stepped in between them.

“Hey! Move out of the way!” the echidna commanded, stopping himself from flattening her. Sonic was surprised he didn’t just blow her over to get to him. “Or I’ll go through you!” Nevermind then. 

Sally held firm, meeting his eyes dead-on. “You’re protecting the Master Emerald, right?”

He seemed confused but less aggressive. “Yeah?”

“Well, we’re the Freedom Fighters, and we do some protecting of our own too. We were protecting our village from the badniks that took over the rest of the country when we found a chaos emerald on one of them. We didn’t know what it was at the time, so we brought it with us to figure it out. No stealing intended.”

While Sonic certainly didn’t want to be on the wrong side of one of this guy’s punches again, all this ‘talking things out’ stuff could very well mess with his and Robotnik’s plans. Hopefully he got here soon.

“How do I know you’re telling the truth? For all I know you’re all here to steal the Master Emerald!” The echidna threw the accusation and Sonic could feel his face react to the utmost stupidity of it.

“You brought my teammate up here. We followed to make sure neither of you died.” Sally replied simply, not giving away that she felt one way or another about his accusation. “I recognize that you have no reason to trust me, but I can give you one: my name.” The boy looked about ready to interrupt her before she continued. “I am Princess Sally Alicia Acorn, heiress to the Throne of Acorn and first female heiress borne to my line in a hundred generations. I lead the Freedom Fighters and my people and as such, I must protect and nurture my people and the people of the world. I mean no ill-will towards you nor your Emeralds; we just intended to learn about them.”

The echidna’s eyes widened at the introduction and again seemed to want to say something before a grey metallic orb flew in swiftly, hovering over the giant green emerald. Eggman finally arrived, gaining everyone’s attention. Under the egg-mobile hung a giant wrecking ball and a claw, which grabbed up the Master Emerald. Sonic’s communicator buzzed with a message from the man who’d just arrived. “Play the long game. Getting this emerald may not guarantee victory. I’ll tell you when you may return home.”

That hurt, but Sonic was a professional. He could deal with his emotions on it later. Right now he had to pretend to want to fight his father who no one knew was his father.

Ivo laughed jovially, a great gut-busting laugh. “I knew it’d work! You guardians are quite protective over these emeralds, aren’t you?”

“What’s this now?!” the red boy’s fury seemed invigorated. Sally came to a sudden realization.

“He’s the one who sent the robots. He must have planted the emerald on the badnik on purpose so that you could come here and fight us while he took the Master Emerald!” The guardian growled at the realization, standing beside the Freedom Fighters. “Robotnik! Release the Emerald!” Sally commanded, her team behind her ready to scrap. Sonic admired their courage.

Robotnik smiled cruelly and even Sonic was a bit unnerved. “No can-do, Princess. With this Emerald, my egg-mobile is better than ever!” Sonic had seen its capabilities before, but it seemed faster as it moved, the wrecking ball quickly slicing through the air. The Fighters dove out of the way of the ball, even Sonic sweating at its speed. 

Knuckles launched himself at the Master Emerald but was launched away at a quick shake of the claw, landing thankfully on his feet. Tails and Sonic made eye-contact, the same idea sparking in their minds. Tails grabbed Sonic’s hands, quickly flying up and above the weapon. Just as Sonic dropped to spin-dash onto the glass top, it flipped, wrecking ball knocking into Sonic and launching the boy into the ground. Bunnie fired at the emperor uselessly as Sally raced towards Sonic, who admittedly had a bit of trouble getting back up. Sonic pushed her out of the way though, noticing that the wrecking ball was coming back around, this time launching him off the island. He realized he was plummeting and had the sinking realization that with all the tests Robotnik had him do, surviving a fall that high was not one of them. What were the chances he’d be able to survive?

Before gravity could answer for him, he felt himself getting caught by someone for the second time since arriving in Knothole. This time, it was the echidna, who seemed to be avoiding Sonic’s gaze with pinkened cheeks. “Don’t expect me to apologize, hedgehog.” he muttered, evidently embarrassed. They made it back up, a few dozen metres from Ivo. Knuckles looked down at Sonic in his arms with determination and a spark of recklessness. “Hey, I know you just got pummeled, but can I throw you?”

Sonic startled before he realized it was a rhetorical question; the boy was already half-way into throwing him at the claw holding the Master Emerald. Well. Robotnik did say he wanted him to play the long game. Sonic curled up, quills cutting through the metal effortlessly. “Don’t let it shatter!” The echidna yelled as Sonic uncurled and fell flat on his end, the throw coupled with the earlier hits not helping his ability to stand. The red boy sighed in relief when Rotor caught the Emerald, huffing under the weight of it.

Eggman seemed ready to attack again until the echidna shattered the wrecking ball, leaving just the egg mobile and a chain as Ivo’s resources. The human shot one last glance in Sonic’s direction before turning to sneer at the rest of the group. “This isn’t over! You can’t protect the chaos emeralds you don’t have!” And with that parting message, he was off in a trail of smoke and humiliation.

When he left their sight, the echidna turned back towards them. “So I guess that seals it: you’re not my enemies.”

Sally sighed in relief. “No, we’re not. Might I introduce the rest of the Freedom Fighters?” She only proceeded when he nodded, wary of doing anything on his island without his permission. “We have Bunnie, Rotor, Tails, and Antoine is the only one not here right now, given his newly-broken ribs.” She continued speaking even as she went to help Sonic up. “And this is Sonic.”

“Well that fits.” the echidna commented. “He doesn’t speak much does he?”

“He doesn’t speak at all. Sally deadpanned. “He’s mute.”

The red boy’s face scrunched in a slow understanding before it turned horrified. “Oh,  _ chaos _ ! Earlier I was yelling at him for not answering my questions, are you telling me he couldn’t respond?!”

Sally tried to stop herself from laughing. “It’s fine, really! You didn’t know.”

Sonic decided to interrupt the boy’s self-horrified revelation, offering his hand to shake. The boy accepted. ‘Well, Sonic. It’s nice to meet you. My name’s Knuckles and as the Guardian of the Master Emerald, I’m looking for the chaos emeralds.”

“We can help you!” Tails offered from behind them, still keeping his distance from Knuckles. “I think we’d rather you have them than Robotnik, so it seems right that we help you get them., right?” The Freedom Fighters voiced their affirmative, Sonic offering a wink and his signature thumbs-up. 

“We can discuss our next plan of action in HQ if you’d like. We have refreshments.” Sally offered, already moving towards Bunnie to fly her off the island. Just as Knuckles started to follow her, Sonic next to him stumbled, the echidna catching him mid-step.

Knuckles chuckled a bit humorlessly. “Jeez, you did get pummelled, huh?” Sonic noncommittally shrugged his shoulders before he felt Knuckles’ arm under his knees, lifting him like a newly-wed. He thought about fighting out of the hold but realized that Knuckles could probably fly him down and off the island like this. “Let me give you a ride. To make up for trying to punch you, I mean.” Sonic gave another shrug, this one with even less energy, the fight finally wearing on him. He was quickly falling asleep in his new maybe-friend’s arms, his last conscious thought of the day somewhere close to  _ dad’s going to be so mad _ .


	15. Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder

So Sonic was right, Ivo was very mad. Face flushed red, moustache flared, veins popping out mad. But he didn’t stay that way for very long, so that was a plus. Adjustable plans and whatnot. 

New plan: help Knuckles get some chaos emeralds, don’t tell the Freedom Fighters when Robotnik gets his own. Once all seven small chaos emeralds are collected, the empire attacks Angel Island and that’s when all seven chaos emeralds will be in one place with the master emerald. Sonic will give the Freedom Fighters’ emeralds to Ivo and they’ll go back to Robotropolis together. Back to normalcy. 

Back to just him and Ivo and occasionally Snively and no one else. 

What would happen to the Freedom Fighters afterwards? They’d probably be jailed, so Sonic could visit them. Not that they would want him to visit them. But it was an option.

As Sonic awoke to the new day, prepared to hunt for the chaos emeralds, something stopped him on his way out of his room. That something being a speed bump in the form of Chuck, who seems to have slept outside Sonic’s bedroom door all night. 

Sonic tried to step over him, but Chuck blearily opened his eyes, startling Sonic into falling onto his end for the second time in as many days. “Sonic!” Well, at least Chuck was calling him the right name now. “I’m sorry, did I startle you?”

Sonic glared at him without heat, not really worried about him, but at a level of annoyance he didn’t want to be so early in the morning. He got up, not really paying attention to Chuck’s focus on him. He tried walking away, but Chuck followed, wapping his ears off. It was when the older mentioned “chaos emeralds” that Sonic actually started paying attention. “It looks like, from my research, that the chaos emeralds only react like the way they reacted to you when someone can self-generate chaos energy, or can absorb chaos energy, which usually only happens outside of the echidna race when someone absorbs magic rings.”

Well, that explains a lot. When Robotnik had set up his first doctor’s appointment, with Ivo as his paediatrician, of course, they had discovered that Sonic had a pretty significant amount of energy in him, seemingly naturally. Then over the year, Robotnik’s tests on Sonic had included seeing just how many rings Sonic could absorb. They had reached a rather large number, a number that made Sonic uncomfortable with the power that churned his belly. But technically, no matter how uncomfortable it made him, Sonic could absorb more. Ivo wanted him to absorb more, will probably make him absorb more when he comes back home.

The point being, it made sense why the emeralds reacted to him.

“...but I’m not completely sure what this complete reaction is, we don’t have any records on that bit.” Chuck continued, eyeing Sonic carefully. “Though I did find that absorbing rings could likely be painful. Not something someone would want to do repetitively enough to gain the energy needed to have the chaos emeralds react to them.” Sonic looked back at chuck, an annoyed yet inquisitive gaze levelled at him. “Unless that someone didn’t have a choice in the matter, of course.” 

Sonic had a choice. Sure, Robotnik had given him five more after Sonic had asked -- begged -- for the test to end. But Sonic had a choice and Ivo said he hadn’t heard Sonic’s screams from his booth over the machinery. It was fine. It was for knowledge. It was helpful and Sonic isn’t complaining because Ivo saved him and gave him a home and an education and food and water which weren’t around mostly in the city and Ivo protected him and only asked for a little help in exchange and it didn’t matter if it hurt because Sonic should be grateful --

He felt a weight on his shoulder in the form of his hand. He looked up at Chuck, who’s expression turned a mix of horrified and worried, taking in Sonic’s haunted gaze. Sonic realized where he was again, who he was with and what he was doing. He turned back around, speed walking towards the kitchen, though he didn’t seem to have the appetite for breakfast anymore. But he was fine. Really.

Sally would probably already be up and out, knowing Tails and Rotor began working around the clock on a device similar to Robotnik’s that could locate chaos energy. That left Sonic with Chuck and King Nigel, who seemed to want Chuck around the palace more and more. Perhaps he was conspiring with Chuck to get him and Sonic to spend more time together? It’d make sense with how Chuck somehow began sleeping outside Sonic’s door.

Even with Chuck still walking behind him, asking “are you alright, sonny?” and “you know I’m here to support you, right?”, Sonic ignored him for the most part, but it all stung to hear. Because he knew, he’d seen, that none of it was true. Why was Chuck still trying to make it look like it was? It was hurting both of them.

The younger grabbed a granola bar and ran off, leaving Chuck there in the kitchen, the lights not even turned on. He made it to HQ in just a second or two, relieved to just get out of the palace. He was only mildly surprised to see Knuckles there with Sally, Tails, and Rotor.

“Hey, Sonic!” Sally greeted, a huge smile on for such an early point in the day. “Ready to go emerald hunting?”

Sonic smiled, a bit forcefully. This was just the thing he needed to get his mind off of what happened with Chuck.  _ Where do we start? _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hurt my heart with this one, i regret


	16. Cognitive Dissonance

They started in the southern hemisphere, working their way through a tropical jungle. Well, not all of them. Bunnie, Antoine, and Rotor stayed behind in Knothole to make sure it was defended if an attack came and Sally had been set up with an immobile radar station with a pocket-Nicole some kilometres away on a cliff to guide Tails, Knuckles, and Sonic towards the emerald. It was really just three of them in this cluttered, sweat-inducingly hot jungle.

Sonic didn’t mind, and Knuckles didn’t seem to feel the heat, but Sonic could tell that the heat on Tails’ thick fur was at the very least uncomfortable.

He tapped Tails’ shoulder, offering the younger his bottle of water. “Are you sure? What if you get thirsty?”

_ You’re hot right now and I’m not bothered by the temperature. You need water way more than I do right now. _ Sonic explained, happy when the fox took the proffered bottle.

“If another branch hits my knees, I’m going to punch down every tree in the jungle.” Knuckles said suddenly, almost tripping for the fourth time in the hour. 

Sonic snickered.  _ At least we know the jungle is good at protecting the chaos emerald!  _ Knuckles only rolled his eyes at the comment, already stomping through the bush. 

“I know this isn’t optimal, but you’re so close to the energy readings, just a few more minutes of -- oh no!” Sally interjected from Tails’ communication device, voice crackling a bit. 

Knuckles turned towards Tails again, eying the device on the kid’s wrist. “Princess? What’s wrong?”

“A Robotnik dropship is approaching your position. It’s heading towards your position right now! There’s only one, but be careful.” Sally warned, voice tense.

“Don’t worry, Sally! We’ll get that emerald and be back home in time for dinner!” Tails responded confidently.

The trio made their way at a much faster pace towards the energy reading, reaching a small clearing with an orange gem in the middle. Nothing seemed to have landed from the dropship, so they cautiously entered the clearing, eyes peeled for anything that might have been hiding.  _ I thought emeralds were supposed to be green? We have a red one at HQ and this one’s orange! _

Before Tails or Knuckles could respond, something big and heavy dropped in front of them, bright red and black glinting in the humid hot sun of the jungle. It stood to its full height, towering over the children before it. “ **Identify yourselves.** ” It commanded, its voice highly mechanized.

“You first.” Tails suggested a bit meekly, eying between the machine and the emerald behind it.

“ **I am E-100, designation: Alpha.** ” It responded surprisingly. “ **My primary mission is to retrieve the chaos emerald from this location.** ”

“Funny, that’s our primary mission too.” Knuckles responded, looking forward to a fight.”

The machine paused, metal claws seemingly clenching and unclenching. “ **Unfortunate. If you do not turn back now, I will have to eliminate you.** ”

Sonic flipped the machine off, going straight for it as Knuckles and Tails attempted to go around, Knuckles to jump on the bot and Tail to go for the emerald. Alpha backhanded Sonic away and took aim at Knuckles just for Sonic to bounce back, hitting its arm so that the bullets fired away from Knuckles. The echidna and the hedgehog both gripped the arm of the E-series bot, trying to both avoid the bullets and to climb their way towards its head for destruction.

It flung them off and grabbed Tails by the scruff of his neck and launched him at the two other Freedom Fighters. Sonic grabbed them and ran before the bullets started raining down on the trio. He placed them down and Knuckles immediately launched himself again at Alpha, punching and denting the legs. Tails flew up to kick the head and Sonic rounded its back, spin dashing into the machine’s ammunition pack, effectively disabling the gun.

Alpha’s gun was disabled, but he certainly wasn’t down nor out. It kicked Knuckles away and swatted Tails back as Sonic dove for the emerald. One of Alpha’s hands disconnected, revealing itself to be a grenade, tossed towards Sonic. 

Sonic’s fingers made contact with the emerald and immediately he started vibrating in a way that Knuckles remembered from when they fought each other, except this time Sonic’s entire body was electrified. Sonic side-stepped the grenade and kicked it up and away, satisfied when it exploded in the air and away from the fight. 

“What was that?” Sonic could hear Sally ask from Tails’ communicator, the crackling of her voice barely hearable over the sound of Alpha’s large and metallic footsteps.

“ **Order: give me the emerald or perish** .” E-100 drew his other hand up, another explosion clearly planned. Sonic didn’t answer, didn’t need to really. He ran, electricity still encompassing his body and kicked right for Alpha’s joints. Before Knuckles’ and Tails’ very eyes, electricity encompassed the machine, its limbs flying any and everywhere before Sonic stopped, cockily smiling and holding the chaos emerald with Alpha disassembled and sparking. Knuckles kicked the head away, huffing at it the entire time.

Tails beamed at the sight. “Sonic! That was so cool!”

“Hello? Is anyone there? Are you alright?” Sally’s voice cut through the moment, worried when she didn’t hear from them after the explosion. 

Tails quickly responded this time. “We’re all good, Sally! Sonic got the chaos emerald and defeated a super badnik!”

Knuckled huffed again in good nature, wrapping his arms around his companions. “Well he had a bit of help.”

_ Couldn’t have done it without you guys.  _ Sonic replied, playfully punching at Knuckles, who equally playfully head locked the hedgehog and giving him a careful nuggy. 

Sally sighed thankfully at the news. “Well, it’s good to hear you boys had fun. Get back here ASAP so we have time to get a second emerald today.”

“You heard the princess,” Tails called back to the fighting duo, “let’s get moving!”

Sonic smirked at Knuckles, finally free from his grip.  _ I’ll race you. _ And before Knuckles could respond, Sonic was off, disappearing into the jungle.

“Sonic! Get back here!” Knuckles yelled. Sonic turned back and saw Tails and Knuckles both running after him. It felt so careless, so fun and joyful.

Sonic knew he’d miss this when he and Ivo won.


	17. Atkinson-Shiffrin Model

The second chaos emerald was a bit more uncomfortable, frozen deep within a glacier in the far south. Knuckles, Sonic, and Bunnie each took turns chipping away at the giant structure, Rotor providing encouragement from the sidelines. Just as he was about to suggest that they take five minutes to rest, Sonic’s quills came into contact with and riped through metal, a chill going up his spine at the texture and the temperature. 

_ I think I found something! _ He notified the group once he dug himself out of the hole they made.

“Is it the emerald?” Knuckles asked bluntly, making a note to himself to never go anywhere with snow again. “Just bring it out!”

Sonic rolled his eyes, completely understanding the echidna’s impatience. _It might be in what I found?_ _Just come check it out!_

Bunnie was the first to step towards the new discovery. “Blue, you got me more curious than a cat in a bag!”

Knuckles and Bunnie followed Sonic deeper into the hole they made, gasping at the sudden discovery of a huge hollow metal object. It was black and frosted in red. Seemingly frozen in time but still more advanced than anything they’d seem from anything other than Tails. 

Sonic stepped in first, taking in the sight: it was obviously a laboratory somehow set on its side with a wall currently being used as the floor and everything was in shambles. Machinery was broken and pieces were frozen in all different directions. Computers and files were logged in walls and human skeletons were littered all over. 

“What is this?” Knuckles asked though Bunnie and Sonic couldn’t answer. Well, Sonic could vaguely, but didn’t. He seemed to be the only one who noticed the bullet holes on quite a few surfaces.

Bunnie tried to rationalize the sight. “Maybe they were testing on something they should’ve been testing on? Like the chaos emerald, which probably could’ve caused all this. In that case, people are lucky that the testing happened way out here instead of somewhere a lot more people could’ve gotten hurt.” Satisfied with her scenario, she took another cautious step forward with another sweeping observational look. “We should split up: this place is huge and we’ll cover more ground if we do. And I don’t want anyone running because we don’t know how many more dangerous things there are here.” She very pointedly gave Sonic a  _ look _ , though considering her protective nature, he couldn’t blame her for it.

Sonic instead speed-walked towards the door.  _ Aye-aye, Captain! _

He didn’t wait for them, there was no need to. Something in his gut was telling him to go down the hall to his right, to pass nine doors on his right and to enter the tenth. He listened to his gut, ignoring how he could see his breath increasing. 

This room seemed to be an office.  _ The _ office, truly. It had one desk and one bed and cabinets out the ass. It was obviously meant to be one person’s space but it was almost as huge as the laboratory. What really caught his attention was what looked like a broken tank, glass shattered and a frozen green liquid covered the ground around it. Great big wires and machines were hooked to the back of it. Sonic rather slowly made his way to the tank, carefully placing his hand on a portion of the glass that wasn’t broken. As soon as his palm was flat against the glass, something sparked its way into Sonic’s skull, flashing into his brain. It was an image, barely there, of a hedgehog. He was black and red, but the details of his other features were blurry and quickly gone. 

Sonic pulled his hand back quickly, freaked at the odd energy and image that felt vaguely similar to chaos energy. He tripped backwards, rear falling flat on a folder. He looked back to see, in dark black letters across the top of a manila folder, “ROBOTNIK”.

That couldn’t be. Ivo hates the cold and he’d never have humans works for him. A living being that wasn’t himself or Snively for that matter. 

He opened the folder to see that the name was actually Gerald Robotnik. Sonic remembered that Ivo had a picture of a Gerald on his desk, having been notified that the man was actually Ivo’s grandfather. It was actually still a mystery to the living Robotnik what his patriarch was working on at the time of his death. 

Sonic grabbed a pair of items from his socks, an analyzer and a data collecting device. The analyzer floating up, scanning every inch of the room. In a few moments, every paper and file and machine would be on-file and sent to Ivo. Sonic himself set up the collector on the one seemingly-intact computer, millions of files condensed and ready to send. As the analyzer made its way to the tank, Sonic couldn’t help the stab of curiosity that ran like lightning through the very fibres of his being.

“Sonic!” Bunnie yelled for him, closer than he was expecting. He grabbed is devices and hid them again, hoping they had completed their jobs. He jogged towards the direction of her voice, eyes widening at the bright green gem in her grip. “We found it, sugar-hog! Now let’s get out of her and get into someplace warm. 

Sonic couldn’t agree with the plan more, but there was just something about this place that begged further investigation. He’d have to send Robotnik the coordinates.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yall know what gon happen


	18. Projection

The third was a bit harder to come by. By that, what is really meant was that it was deep in Robotnik territory and that the Freedom Fighters had to retreat back to Knothole because a grenade had gone off and injured Tails and Rotor and a concentrated electromagnetic pulse had disabled Bunnie’s arm. Sonic was pretty sure his shoulder was dislocated.

Sally had been sour since they had arrived back in the village and her father wasn’t any help in that; he’d been going on and on about responsibility and forethought and this, that, and the other thing. For a man who hid inside his palace for a year and a handful of months, King Nigel seemed to hold himself in some sort of undeserved esteem. At least, according to Sonic.

By the time he left her alone, Sally was in near-tears. Sonic approached her carefully, making sure she heard him coming before he spoke. She quickly wiped her face, turning towards him with a natural-looking fake smile. “Hey Sonic, what’s up?”

_ Are you ok? _ He asked, knowing it wasn’t going to something the princess answered honestly.  _ That sounded rough. _

Sally huffed her shoulders back and took on a form of poise. “It’s fine. I should’ve made a better plan, really.”

Sonic had a sympathetic expression, but he was nevertheless bitter.  _ At least you came up with a plan. _

“What do you mean?” Sally asked. He knew she had seen where the comment was really directed.

Sonic sighed.  _ You’re on your feet 24/7. It’s not fair for him to be so tough on you when you’re already tough on yourself. _

“He’s my family, he has the best intentions.” Sally defended, no heat behind the defense.

Sonic looked deep into her eyes, making sure she saw the emotion in his own.  _ I used to think that too. _ The princess looked like she was somewhere between defending her father again and apologizing before Antoine came in the room behind Sonic. 

“Mon princess, we have a lead on where the emerald is being transported.” The others followed the coyote into the other room where, even injured, Tails and Rotor worked on a computer that glowed a green map, red markings seeming to indicate a path. “It seems to be approaching the camp we’ve found.”

Sonic hadn’t heard of any camps, even while in Robotropolis with Ivo.  _ Camps? _

Sally sighed, with some sort of admiration in her eyes. “You were really lucky during your time in Robotropolis. Most of the kids that got stuck in the city got sent to work camps. They’re in mines for weeks on end and these camps are Robotnik’s main source of raw materials.”

Sonic had to stop his eyes from widening in response to the information. That couldn’t be it. Ivo had robots for that. Then again all of the badniks Sonic had seen were all oriented towards destruction, not harvesting raw materials from the earth. No -- no, that had to be wrong. Just because Sonic hadn’t seen those bots, doesn’t mean they exist. And Sonic knew he was lucky, really really lucky at that. So lucky that he was probably the only kid in Robotropolis that survived, thanks to Ivo. Slaves weren’t -- robots were so much more efficient than living beings, slaves weren’t Ivo’s style. The assumption that living beings were working in the mines was probably just optimism. Sally was just really optimistic in a super weird way. Yeah, that was it. 

“So what’s our next move?” Rotor asked, everyone’s attention on Sally.

She seemed to consider the question, again making eye contact with Sonic. “Full frontal attack. We’re bringing those kids home.”


	19. Aggression

Sonic’s bones ached and his fur and quills were matted with sweat. Robots were swarming everywhere and shots were fired off in all directions. Orders were barked at various people around him and electricity buzzed around him. It reminded him of training.

Sally and Bunnie somewhere behind him, shooting into the badniks as they approached Sonic. The hedgehog himself was walking, an odd sight, and buzzing with electricity. The bolts flashed and caught on the metal casings of the badniks, deactivating them quickly, but not instantly. The girls’ shots hit true and prevented any slowly-deactivating bots. 

“Princess!” Antoine’s voice crackled over Sally’s communicator, which had been lined with rubber as had Bunnie’s limbs. “We have found the children, but they are being held hostage. We need some help here!”

“We’re on our way. Just sit tight.” Sally replied, Bunnie next to her already turning towards Antoine, Knuckles, and Tails’ position. “Sonic! We’ve got a situation with the search group! Are all the badniks here finished?”

Sonic took quick steps around the hall and surrounding rooms, returning to Sally’s side as static electricity lifted his quills slightly.  _ We’re all good here. I’ll go ahead and take care of as many bots as I can on the way. _ Without waiting for a response, he was off. He couldn’t believe it. There really were slaves. Actual living slaves mining for iron ore and raw materials and they were right under Sonic’s nose for more than a year. 

And Ivo didn’t tell him. Had even denied it when Sonic asked about it after Sally had told him about the camp in the first place so not only did Ivo not tell him that he was utilizing child-slaves, but had also consciously lied about it. 

After angrily ripping through badniks, Sonic stopped and leveled a glare at a security camera.  _ We’re going to talk. _ He promised, knowing Ivo would be looking. 

He arrived, taking in the sight of children cowering in front of the badniks. It felt uncomfortably familiar. He dashed through three before breaking the cuffs of some of the kids, an armadillo among them. Another group of badniks scooped up some children and ran. Before Sonic reacted, a huge sheet of metal went through the heads of the robots. Sonic looked back to see the armadillo standing tall and proud, slightly enraged until a small flying squirrel ran up and hugged him around his chest. 

“Mighty!” The squirrel rejoiced. “That was so cool!”

The taller child chuckled as the other slave children ran to the Freedom Fighters. “Told you I’d keep you safe, Ray. Did you ever doubt it?”   
  


This Ray kid smiled broadly. “Not for a second!” The armadillo turned towards Sonic with a grateful smile. “Thanks for the save, man. I’m Mighty.” 

_ I’m S-O-N-I-C _ . The hedgehog replied before realizing he was signing to someone who might not know what he meant. Of course, the armadillo blinked owlishly. 

“He said his name is Sonic.” Ray translated, surprising both of the other Mobians. “My dad was mute.”

“Oh.” Was all Mighty could respond. “Your name’s a bit on the nose, isn’t it?” He turned towards Sonic.

The boy smirked in response.  _ So’s M-I-G-H-T-Y. _

“He got you on your name too, Mighty.” Ray barked out a grand laugh. “Touche, Sonic!”

“Sonic!” Knuckles’ voice approached the trio, pushing through broken robots and desperate children alike. “Hey, you’re ok!”

_ Of course I am! These badniks were a breeze! _ Sonic responded confidently. At Ray’s pointed cough, Sonic adopted a sheepish expression.  _ Well, I had some help. _

Ray, just as excitedly as he approached Mighty, stepped towards Knuckles. “Hi! I’m Ray!”

“Mighty.” The armadillo stepped to greet the echidna with a handshake. “Nice to meet you.”

Knuckles accepted the shake, surprised at the other’s grip. “Knuckles.”

_ You’ve got some competition, bud. He’s super strong! _ Sonic goaded.  _ Might be stronger than you! _

Knuckles huffed a bit. “I’m strong, don’t you forget that.” He glared towards Sonic, sneaking a glance back at Mighty. “And we can find out who’s stronger later, after we get everyone back to Knothole.”

“Knothole?” Mighty asked, hanging on the word. “It’s real? We were trying to find it when we were captured!”

Sonic pat him and Ray on the back.  _ Looks like Knothole came to you! Now let’s get out of here! _

Just then, Sonic’s own communicator buzzed off. “Sonic!” Bunnie seemed to shout. “We’re under heavy fire! We can’t wait to find the emerald! We need to get the kids to the shuttle now!”

Sonic flashed a thumbs up at the screen already leading his own small team to the exit. It didn’t matter if the Freedom Fighters didn’t have the emerald; Sonic still did.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Mighty and Ray join the server!


	20. Narcissism

Ivo couldn’t continue at this pace. Sonic was discovering things Ivo couldn’t explain away very easily. He’d need to take out the Freedom Fighters before Sonic started rebelling. It needed to happen quickly. 

He’d gathered two chaos emeralds without letting the Freedom Fighters get the chance to pick up on their signals. That meant that Robotnik had three and the Freedom Fighters had another three. There was only one left somewhere in the world.

“I know you’re upset with me, but trust me when I say that everything I do is for a reason.” Ivo told Sonic, who glared through the screen at him with a simmering heat. “Listen, my boy. There’s only one chaos emerald left. I will interject the signal into Nicole’s and you must bring the chaos emeralds with you. We will meet each other there and finally reveal our true potential to the world!” Sonic still glared at him, but nodded along. “Don’t you give me that look, boy! My plans didn’t have to involve you, but I saw your potential and gave you a chance at life. And I continue to give you a chance at life. Don’t forget that, son.”

The last emerald was in a lava zone in neutral territory, and would likely need to be handled with some sort of heat-resistant material. Or Sonic could grab it himself. The child was resistant and could handle pain. Ivo would rather the hedgehog touch a gem that’s been baking in lava than the man himself. But Sonic didn’t need to know that. 

  
Despite Sonic’s  _ initial misgivings _ on the slaves, he still seemed willing to cooperate with the plan. Everything was still going according to plan.


	21. Separation Anxiety

Sonic kept his eyes peeled as lava entered his field of view from the shuttle window, feeling the chaos emeralds secured in his quills away from the others’ sight. There was an ominous glow upon his muzzle. This was it, his last day with the Freedom Fighters. It had to be. 

Sally and Rotor were at the helm of the shuttle, navigating the lava expertly, as Nicole gave them more information about the zone, their altitude, the position of the chaos energy. It looked just like a normal mission, the entirety of the Freedom Fighters geared up and ready to go. They had no idea what was happening.

“The heat is preventing my sensors from picking up the exact location of the chaos emerald, but I can narrow down the vicinity it could be in.” Nicole’s voice interrupted Sonic’s musings. “Another mile and we’ll be within a five-mile radius of the emerald.”

“Thanks, Nicole!” Sally chirped happily. She turned to Sonic, who quickly hid his contemplative expression. “Have you ever run towards lava before? This is so cool! Not literally, of course, but it’s -- it’s just so fascinating!”

Rotor chuckled at Sally’s expression of wonder. “Sure, but remember how dangerous it is. Let’s try to admire it from a distance.”

Tails entered the cockpit, a smile on his face and not noticing Bunnie’s and Antoine’s hands intertwining. “It’s incredible that an emerald could handle so much heat! I wonder if the chaos energy it emits is somehow protecting it. Or maybe it’s changing the properties of the emerald so that it can handle the temperatures.”

Knuckles followed behind him, arms still crossed as he passed Antoine and Bunnie on his way in. “Chaos energy can do anything, so don’t be surprised if you’re right or if you’re completely wrong.” 

It was a nice view, this group. Sally turned to him again. “What about you, Sonic? You’ve been quieter than normal. Sonic gave her a  _ look _ , shaking with contained laughter. “That’s not what I meant!” She blushed at her slip-up. “It’s just an expression -- oh, goodness, I’m sorry!”

_ It’s ok! I know what you meant, I was just messing with you! _ Sonic no longer suppressed his laughs.  _ I’m just a little weary about the lava. _

“Exactly how we should be!” Rotor reminded, getting multiple rolled eyes. “Hey, look! It’s hot! It’s dangerous! We should really be careful out there!”

Nicole chirped up again, “We’re approaching the drop point, lowering altitude.”

The Freedom Fighters approached the doors in the back, ready to find the chaos emerald, Sonic among their ranks. He already knew exactly where it was, but he’d have to go with it so that Ivo could have more time to get here and get the emerald. It was only a matter of time.


	22. HEY, BIG OLD AUTHOR'S NOTE

Hey so I made a discord server!

It's a server for Sonic fan-creators (writers, artists, comic creators, mood board editors, etc). Prompts will be posted in different channels geared towards different mediums. There's also general chats and voice channels, and it's super new, so come join!

[Here it is!](https://discord.gg/YjhqZ5K)


	23. Radical Behaviorism

Robotnik had to have messaged Sonic at least five times since he left Robotropolis, anxious to make sure that his plan was executed to the direct letter. Sonic could do without the panic every time he felt the communicator vibrate against his ankle as it was hidden away in his sock. It was nerve-wracking and Sonic was pretty sure Sally would notice eventually.

Yet, even as Robotnik approached and everything fell together, Sonic found himself doubting. Doubting himself, the plan, even Robotnik. And what would befall the people of Knothole? Would they be sent to the camps?

Before he could think on it any further, he heard Bunnie gasp a few yards away from him. “I think I found it!”

Sonic raced towards her as the rest of the Freedom Fighters climbed and flew their way towards Bunnie. She stood next to a pit of lava, a blue glow emitting from a cliff, the emerald buried within the rock. Just as Sally went to say something, Sonic launched himself at the cliff, quills breaking through rock easily. He grabbed the emerald as he jumped out of the new crater on the side of the cliff. He landed heavily next to Sally and Tails, gloves slightly smoking from the heat of the emerald.

“That works too.” Sally said, slightly stifled from shock. Suddenly, from behind the group, a giant whirring rose. 

Robotnik had arrived.

“Ah, Freedom Fighters! Fancy meeting you here!” Ivo sarcastically barked, his anticipation viable through the air. His open eggmobile had been fit with lasers and arms that were pretty reminiscent of the Alpha unit Sonic, Knuckles and Tails fought in the jungle. It was powered by Robotnik’s three chaos emeralds. From the sky, robots descended, each of the dozens with an open cage in their arms. 

Sally snarled at him, surprising even Sonic with the sound. “Robotnik! What are you doing here? Don’t you have people to make miserable elsewhere?”

Ivo just laughed at her. “Sure I do, Princess! An empire full! But the only creatures I want to make miserable are here! And so is my asset.”

Sonic knew the asset bit was directed at him, but Knuckles quickly growled at Ivo. “You’re not getting that emerald!”

“You all seem so sure of that. Well, all except one of you, that is.” Robotnik’s eyes gleamed from behind his goggles. That was as much of a cue as Sonic was going to get. He raced passed the Freedom Fighters in less than a second and in the time it took to blink, he was handing the now-cool emerald to Robotnik.

Sally looked crushed. “Sonic?”

Antoine growled a sound that was becoming normal in Sonic’s ears. “He’s a traitor!”

Ivo laughed, not noticing shame flash over the hedgehog’s face. “Hardly! I sent him to you for this specific reason after all!”

“A spy!” Bunnie gasped. Horror and rage were directed at Sonic, whose face trained itself into detachment. No matter what happened, he had a mission to complete. He took the chaos emeralds from his quills out and handed those too to the doctor. The elder laughed maniacally, not once noticing his adopted son’s distress.

“Oh yes! With these bad boys, I’ll destroy your precious little village, your ‘friend’ by my side when I do!” Ivo delighted in the despair of Sally’s face. “Your kindness is evidently your weakness! Sonic!” Ivo finally turned towards Sonic. “Get them in those cages. And don’t hold back this time.”

Sonic turned towards the Freedom Fighters and burst forward, pushing into Knuckles. He hated this. He  _ hated _ this. He hated that he became friends with these people. Knuckles was in a cage. He hated that he had to fight them and hated that they resisted and that he didn’t actually blame them for resisting. Bunnie was caged. He hated that Ivo made him do this and that he still couldn’t be angry at him because  _ he had a year of education and food and water and protection _ that he owed the man. Antoine was chucked in a cage. Sonic hated that he hated doing this. He hated that his friends were begging for him to stop, questioning just how much he actually cared for him because  _ he does care for them, damnit _ . He loved them and he hated this but it was for a good cause. He hated that he wasn’t so sure any more. Rotor was thrown in a cage head-first. He hated how heartbroken they looked while Ivo just looked like he was watching his favourite experiments.  _ He hated that he was left in the city in the first place because if he wasn’t he wouldn’t have to do this _ . Tails cried out as he was locked up.

That left Sonic and Sally. For the first time since Ivo deployed him against the Freedom Fighters, he stopped. He really looked at her and it wasn’t angry. It wasn’t scared. It was sympathetic as if understanding his predicament. What did she know? Lightning flashed out of his entire body as he cried out, slamming her into another cage. God, it hurt. 

The lightning settled, and for a moment, all was quiet. Until Ivo ruined it again. “Very good, son! Now, it’s time to go home.”

A month ago, he would’ve been overjoyed to hear that. Now, he hated it.


	24. Guilt

Sonic couldn’t help but to be annoyed with every tap his steps caused on the metal floor. 

Several months in Knothole and Robotropolis hadn’t changed a bit. It was just as empty and desolate. It was still just him and Snively and Ivo. Snively still sneered at him and Robotnik still made him go into the experimentation room. 

His earlier prediction was correct: the older human did want him to absorb more rings. A lot. “As punishment for questioning the decisions I make.” The man said, in reference to slaves. 

Then there was the matter of the Freedom Fighters. They remain prisoners, but Sonic knew they wouldn’t for long. Sonic had gone snooping in Robotnik’s office when they finally came back, and found the robotization process blueprints. Of course it figured that Bunnie had already gone through it partially, but the tangible knowledge had at the very least startled Sonic. Terrified him actually, but he couldn’t let Robotnik know that.

The Robotnik patriarch planned on taking the Fighters to Knothole and robotizing them in front of the public before taking the place over. It was cruel. Those people didn't deserve to be afraid and the Freedom Fighters didn't deserve to be afraid. And yet they were. Sonic was self-aware enough to know it was because of him.

He visited his friends -- he didn’t know why he still called them that -- to feed them. It was always silent, except for small sniffling that let Sonic know just how much they had been crying. Tails’ eyes were always rimmed with red. 

It wasn’t fair.

You know, Nicole was still active. And Sonic still had his communicator. He could get into contact with Nicole, who could get into contact with Mighty and Ray. The Freedom fighters could be free.

But where would that leave Sonic? Here, with Robotnik? Could he go with the Fighters? Maybe get the chaos emeralds on the way out?

What was he thinking?! Leaving Robotnik? The Empire? For people he met three months ago? People who gave him a home and didn’t hurt him with the rings as father did? Who always did their best to help him with life and communicating? Father had done that too. Painfully. And put him through all that training and wanted him to kill when  _ he doesn’t want to, he didn’t want to, please don’t make him, please don’t, please, no more rings, he’s sorry! _

I guess it was decided then.

Hidden behind a corner, Sonic lifted his communicator to his wrist, transferring his coordinates to Nicole. 

He’d help the Freedom Fighters escape, but still had no idea what he was going to do afterwards.


	25. Progression

Nigel didn’t know what to do. His daughter was captured by Robotnik, but he couldn’t leave his people. He couldn’t in good faith send any of his people to go after her either.

Nicole had provided him and the guards the information and proof that the Freedom Fighters had all been captured, but the information had been received from inside Robotropolis. Which meant that either one of the kids sent the information or Ivo himself had sent it, waiting in cruel satisfaction as Nigel was forced to make a sacrifice. Again.

Very few knew about the princess’ capture, but if she was gone any longer, the people would figure it out. Very few already knew and Nigel would be surprised if the word hadn’t already gotten out to some degree. 

Its when he was contemplating this when the door to his office swung open not harshly, but with speed. He looked up from his desk to see that Sir Charles stood there, mechanical gauntlets on and two children waiting behind him in the hallway. “Your highness,” Charles spoke with a waver in his voice, “we’re going after the children.”

“What?” Nigel was shocked. Charles was a dedicated man, had never stopped looking for his nephew amongst the many orphanages in the village. He left the city on the last transport, hoping to see the boy running towards him. It was only on Nigel’s command that he got on a transport in the first place, so lost without his nephew’s presence. He’d tried to help the Freedom Fighters in their search for the chaos emeralds when he realized Sonic  _ didn’t want to be around him.  _ But still, Nigel couldn’t imagine why Charles was ready to walk into a city of metal and death. “Absolutely not!”

Charles persisted. “I’m sorry, old friend. But I’m not asking for your permission. I’m telling you what I plan on doing out of respect and decades of friendship. I’m getting my boy and  _ your daughter _ and the rest of those kids.”

The Knight left, closing the door behind him, leaving the king in shock. Charles had never once disobeyed an order, and never once said something so oppositional so blatantly. And yet, Nigel couldn’t blame him for it. Not when the boy was the only family Charles had left.  _ And Sally is the only family I have left. _

Nigel launched himself out of his chair, not caring that it fell. He opened the door and looked around, relieved and anxious when he saw Charles still in the hallway. “Charles!” He called, knowing it might be a bit unbecoming of royalty. The hedgehog turned, the children with him, an armadillo and a fly squirrel now that Nigel could see them. Nigel swallowed thickly. “If you run into trouble, have Nicole keep me updated.” It was the very least the Acorn King could offer.

Charles nodded gravely and continued on.


	26. Honesty

Sonic knew someone would come for them. He knew it. But that didn’t make his own wants any clearer. He wanted to give the Freedom Fighters a fighting chance, sure, but where would he go after this? If he went anywhere, that is.

Of course, there was always the matter of Robotnik’s secrets. He had  _ slaves _ that Sonic hadn’t been aware of! There was a way that he could find them out without asking Robotnik, who would punish him if he asked the wrong questions again.

Sonic turned out of his room, sneaking quickly down the hall and up several levels. He took turns and hid behind corners, waiting until Snively and Ivo both left the room for bed. After their footsteps became just distant echoes, he entered the room, feeling the birth of a great pit in his stomach.

He’d only been in this room once before, when Ivo showed him Chuck’s true colours. The monitor room. It had screens at every angle for all the cameras in the city. If Robotnik was hiding anything else from Sonic, he’d have all the proof here. 

The child made his way to the chair, the pit in his stomach growing as he realized just how much bigger Robotnik was than him. He had to stand on the chair in order to reach the controls. He quickly set the cameras back, watching robots zoom back and forth across the screen. It seemed like nothing but bots and Robotnik himself. 

Until Sonic got to the day of the takeover and saw familiar faces. They were his parents.

He wasn’t ready to see them again, even if it was on a screen. They were restrained and kicking at badniks, who were dragging them into the palace. Sonic switched cameras, watching them forced inside alongside some other prisoners. They turned a corner and Sonic had to switch cameras again, this time watching as they were thrown into capsules, Robotnik himself saying something with a mocking expression that the camera couldn’t pick up before the human pressed a button.

A pale green gas filled the capsules and lights flashed sporadically before the tubes lifted to reveal--

They’d all been turned into robots.  _ Roboticized. _

Sonic’s parents. 

It shouldn’t be possible, it couldn’t,  _ there was no way someone could turn a living person into wire and metal. _

He watched, nauseous, as Robotnik ordered his parents -- the robots -- out with a grand gesture. They followed it without any of the fight they had on their way into the chamber, shells of their former selves.

Sonic was going to be sick.

Chuck may have left him in the city, but Robotnik  _ made him an orphan _ in the first place. He lied and feigned care and paternal instinct, pretending to protect Sonic from the invading bots when he was the one who created them anyway.

Distantly, Sonic heard intruder alarms, seeing that Chuck, Mighty, and Ray entered the palace’s lower levels on one of the screens. His mind was made up.

The Freedom Fighters were going to get out of here and he was going with them.


	27. Forgiveness

Chuck knew he had to be some sort of insane to be here with two children to rescue the Freedom Fighters from an empire. Yet, his mind has never been clearer.

He left his nephew in Mobotropolis once, he wasn’t going to do it a second time. And Mighty and Ray had volunteered for the mission, upset that the king wasn’t sending anyone himself.

Chuck couldn’t spend too much thought on it. Alarms were blaring and robots were turning corners looking for them. They were lucky to find a set of stairs and launch themselves up it, but had no idea where they were going. They’d probably have to go to the lower levels again to find the Fighters, but what of the badniks? They couldn’t just walk around hoping to find a door downstairs without expecting to run into more of the mechanical menaces. 

Suddenly, a gust of wind passed them by, then returned, as if it hadn’t realized that it had passed them in the first place. “Sonic!” Ray exclaimed excitedly, launching himself into Sonic’s arms.

_ Thank goodness _ , he was safe. Sonic had escaped and was probably looking for the other Freedom Fighters. He looked like he was ok, if not tired and panicked. “Sonny!” Chuck also launched himself at Sonic who, for the first time since he came to Knothole, allowed the man to hug him. “You’re ok! Quick, let’s get the others and get out of here!” Just as Chuck got up to turn around another corner, Sonic tugged on his arm.

The younger turned towards Ray.  _ Can you translate? _

Ray nodded, confused. “Sure?”

Sonic gulped, no idea how any of them would react.He felt himself tearing up.  _ I have to be honest. I was sent to the village as a spy for the empire. I’m so sorry. I’m going to help get everyone back to Knothole and accept any punishment that is determined for me. _

Ray paused for a second and Sonic was worried that he’d gone too fast before Ray’s lips quivered. “It’s ok! It’s not your fault!”

Chuck was panicked. “What, what’s happened? What did he say?”

Ray looked between Mighty and Chuck. “He was a spy but he’s a good guy now! He’s going to help us!”

“A spy?” Mighty’s eyes widened, unnerved by the implications. “How did that happen?”

“He was stuck in the city for a year.” Charles answered for Sonic. “It -- that’s my fault. I should’ve waited for him, I -- Sonny, I’m so sorry.” He kneeled back down, eyes level with Sonic’s. “I am so, so sorry.”

Sonic’s mind raced. Wasn’t that what he wanted? Chuck was  _ sorry _ , wasn’t that what he wanted? He felt the tears finally start falling, and he wrapped his arms around Chuck’s neck, knowing that they’d probably still need to talk this through more at home.  _ Home. _ Which was protected by the Freedom Fighters, who were currently five levels below them. 

Sonic removed himself from Chuck, who was also crying at this point.  _ We have to go a couple of levels down. I’ll lead you down. _

Ray looked determined, back on track with the mission. “He’s going to lead us to the Freedom Fighters! Let’s go!” Sonic started off, making sure to go a speed that they could keep up with. 

He said what he needed to and he was ready to get out of here. 


	28. Author's Note, Sorry

Hey all! So I’m going to be taking it a bit slow with updating my current works as I’ve dislocated my shoulder and typing is super awkward right now. 

Generally, I’m fine and I’m going to be getting as much done as I can, so please don’t worry! In the meantime, if any of you have questions, please send them over via comments and I’ll answer them the best I can!

Have a great day y’all!


	29. Confidence

Sally didn’t really know what was going on. She could hear her team, their frustrated punching against the glass, a couple of them sniffling with the sadness they'd been crying out. The room they were held in was completely dark save for a blinking red light that seemed to be attached to a wall. 

Suddenly, the red light stopped blinking and light flooded into the room, momentarily blinding the princess and her team. She blinked her eyes open and gasped. Badniks were marching in, taking hold of the containers the Freedom Fighters and dragging them out of the room. She punched on the glass, knowing it wouldn’t do anything, but trying either way. Her container was grabbed and she doubled her efforts, feeling her knuckles bruise with effort. She was the last brought into the hallway, and a burst of blue light engulfed her vision. Her eyes squeezed shut at the light and gasped when she saw Chuck standing on one side of the hall, his gauntlet smoking from the shot. Mighty, Ray, and -- was that Sonic? -- stood together on the other side of the hall, effectively trapping the badniks in the hall.

The group quickly freed the Freedom Fighters and defeated the badniks, but before Sally could say anything, Knuckles was standing between her and Sonic and Bunnie had her arm aimed at the hedgehog. Chuck, Ray, and Mighty all stood in between the Freedom Fighters and the boy, who looked -- ashamed? Embarrassed? Regretful? Whatever it was, it was obvious that Sonic didn’t want to be in this position, but that could be because he had several lethal weapons pointed at him.

“What are you doing?!” Knuckles yelled at the rescue party. “He’s a spy!”

“He was! But he’s good now!” Ray exclaimed, stuttering all the while. “He helped us find you!”

Antoine huffed, his sword glinting in the yellow lights of the hall. “Yes, after he did the capture of us in the first place!”

“We don’t know why though!” Chuck pipped up.

Knuckles growled. “Don’t we?!”

“No!” Chuck’s voice took an authoritative note, stunning the children. “Listen, Sonic was with Robotnik for a year and we have no idea what happened during that time, which is what obviously led to this happening in the first place. Beforehand, he spoke and didn’t fight and certainly didn’t know sign language, so some pretty big things happened, and I’m willing to guess not all of them were good. Especially if my research on chaos energy holds correct information. We can find out why he did what he did later, when we’re back in Knothole, not arguing here. Alright?”

The children were quiet, though it was obvious that they realized Chuck was right. That didn’t stop all of them from being upset, though.

“That -- that doesn’t change anything! He’s still the enemy!” Knuckles’ yelled, but his eyes watered in sadness. “We could’ve been dead before he decided to lead you down here in the first place!”

Sonic pushed himself passed Chuck, surprising the group.  _ I’m so sorry. But I know I can’t make it up. So I’ll give me up. _ With Knuckles’ confused look, Sonic continued, tapping his cheek.  _ If you want me to pay, make me pay. I won’t stop you. _

Knuckles drew his fist back and Sonic closed his eyes calmly, ready to get hit. What he wasn’t prepared for was a tight embrace, followed almost immediately by another and another and a couple more. He opened his eyes to see that the Freedom Fighters were -- it had been a long time since he felt this -- hugging him. 

Sally sobbed into his chest. “If you do that again, I’ll banish you myself.” Sonic felt his own eyes tearing up, fully expecting a bruise at the very least. They were much more merciful than he was used to. 

They pulled back after Mighty and Ray joined the hug, ruffling Sonic’s quills. Bunnie pulled back, whipping her tears away. “You know, now that we’re free and in Robotropolis, we have an opportunity here.”

Antoine groaned. “Oui. An opportunity to go home!”

Sally got Bunnie’s meaning. “We’re going home. With the chaos emeralds.”


	30. Fear Itself

If Ivo had been paying attention, he would’ve seen this coming. 

Admittedly, he hadn’t been paying the most attention to Sonic, which was likely the cause of this little problem. Well, he was paying attention now. 

The heir to his empire went rouge and released the Freedom Fighters and was now charging towards the chamber that currently held the chaos emeralds. While disappointing, it wasn’t the end of the world. Not when Ivo had a backup plan for everything.

The hedgehog was running into a trap, right when his foolish betrayal had given the other rodents and pests a semblance of hope. It was ironic, really.

Ivo stepped into the chamber, a cockpit rising from the floor beneath him. The chaos emeralds were locked into their own containers, little grapes that absorbed and projected power. The walls shifted to reveal gears and wires, all fitting into curved and rounded metal. Steel and aluminium appendages attached to the wires connecting to the cockpit and formed legs and arms. Munition tanks and jet packs attached and magnetic explosives strapped around a yellow metal built-in belt of sorts and heat cannons emerged from the shoulders of the mechanical beast. Steam billowed from the hydraulic joints of the machination before Ivo and his creation started off.

Ivo had put a lot of faith into Sonic. But not all of it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I realized I've been slow to update this work and had been focusing on the ArSonic AU stuff, but I'm back and giving you a bit of a peek at the _finale_ of this first arc!
> 
> Other arc(s) are planned, please sit tight! And thank you for bearing with me!


	31. Emotionally Draining

Sonic knew Ivo had to have some sort of backup plan, but he wasn’t quite ready for the Lovecraftian mechanical behemoth that was charging his way, destroying the halls before him. Sonic stopped short and turned to the side, busting another hole in the wall. As the team caught up to him, he threw as many people as he could through the hole before finally feeling one of the many gigantic silver arms slam into him. 

Robotnik grinned, realizing he effectively separated the Freedom Fighters. Before him lay Sonic, Mighty, and Knuckles, all having trouble getting up from where they had flown from impact. Ivo reached for Sonic, who rolled away in alarm. “Running again? I thought I taught you better than to run from me, boy!”

Sonic sweat, realizing that this machine had to be the fastest of all that he’d seen. Knuckles forced himself up, launching himself towards the cockpit. Only to be smacked around again by another mechanical arm. Robotnik didn’t even look away from Sonic the entire time. Mighty went for a leg that kicked him back.

The walls fell and the Freedom Fighters were finally able to see what was happening: Knuckles and Mighty were down for the count and Sonic was getting cut off and surrounded by giant metal arms. “Fighters! Find a way to destroy those arms!” Sally commanded. “Chuck, Ray: check on Mighty and Knuckles.”

They launched themselves at the machine, uselessly trying to destroy the seemingly undestroyable and undentable arms. Even its joints just seemed to bounce anything they threw at it back. Robotnik suddenly cackled, confusing Sally -- until she looked back and saw that he had finally taken hold of Sonic. He was squeezed between the fingers of a giant hand before the mech steamed and its torso expanded length-wise, revealing a container -- a container holding the chaos emeralds. It opened only long enough for Ivo to throw Sonic into it, and for Sally to realize what was happening.

Robotnik was draining power from the emeralds. And now he was going to drain power from Sonic.

The mech’s torso went back to concealing the emeralds, sparks of electricity now emerging from the arms of the mech, twitching in power. Robotnik’s sinister grin widened into a teeth-barred smile. “Now, dear princess,” He turned to her, even as she still stood atop an arm, “I do believe we have some unfinished business.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I can't believe it! This is the second-to-last chapter in the arc! The next chapter is going to be *a lot* longer than this one for the finale of the arc!
> 
> I would like to thank you guys for staying tuned! It really means a lot to me that you've stuck around and I hope the next arc (because I have planned another arc, don't worry) is as entertaining to you as this one!
> 
> Once the next chapter is out, this story will go a bit on a mild hiatus so I can write a couple of chapters before posting. Again, thank you for staying tuned and I hope to see you all enjoying the finale and the next arc soon!


	32. Author's Note

Hi guys! I'm sorry to say that, due to a family emergency, I'll be going on a bit of a hiatus. I'll try to reply to anyone who comments or sends something on tumblr, and I'm sorry in advance that it make take a while.

Have a nice day and please enjoy your week!


	33. Hope

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So this is it, the last chapter of this arc! I hope you guys enjoy it!

Sally stood stock-still, taking in the information before her. Most of the Fighters were fine, but two of their heavy-hitters were unconscious and another was captured. The rest were fatigued, hungry, and dehydrated. Or old, in Chuck’s case. Either way, it wasn’t looking very good. 

Then again, Sonic was with the chaos emeralds right now. Maybe he could sabotage the mech from the inside.

Sally glared into the eyes of Robotnik, who was still smiling like the bastard he is. “I’m sure our business is quite finished.” She threw a knife into the chaos container and into Robotnik’s cockpit, though both were blocked by glass. The material didn’t burst, but the metal was lodged in it, poking slightly through. Ivo flinched back in shock before growling in anger, wiry limbs moving to strike the princess, even as she dodged. That just served to enrage Robotnik more.

He lashes arms out in all directions, hitting everything but no one. Bunnie took to dodging, as did Antoine, but Charles fired on the tentacles, all of which seemed to not quite care that he was present at all. Sally dodged to the best of her ability, but she certainly didn’t have Sonic’s speed. An arm glanced her, sending her spiralling to the ground. Bunnie grabbed her off the ground before a mechanical hand slammed down onto the ground. Charles tripped and Antoine’s knees buckled at the shaking of the ground. 

Sonic huddled down in his container, ears flat against his skull. Energy bubbled around him, pushing and pulling, being sucked out of the container and the gems putting that energy right back. His vision was blurring and the constant movement of the huge machine threw him from wall to wall. Everything felt...weird. He was somewhere between pain and possibility. 

With a sharp turn, Sonic’s cheek was pressed up against warm glass and he already knew there was going to be a knot on his forehead from the impact. Where was Tails? Or Sally? Where were the other Freedom Fighters? 

They seemed scattered about, almost like Sonic’s own thoughts. He realized he was hyperventilating, lungs pumping chaos energy in and out with every breath. It  _ stung _ , and not in the way that running free in an endless field stung his lungs. He felt like he couldn’t take in air at all, gasping and hearing himself strangle. Why was this happening?

Sally could see Sonic’s face turning red, then purple, growling as Bunnie fired at the arms again. Antoine’s sword cut through an arm  _ finally _ and a few more were destroyed by Charles’ gauntlet. Tails and Ray launched themselves at the glass holding Sonic just as the small hedgehog lost consciousness. 

The glass didn’t scratch nor dent, sending Ray and Tails careening towards the ground. The arms drew back suddenly, poised to strike at any moment. The Freedom Fighters rallied, brushing dust and dirt off of their fur and clothes. “You won’t keep us here and you won’t keep the world under your thumb, Robotnik!” Sally declared, eyeing Sonic more than the human. “And we’re taking  _ all _ of us when we leave!”

Robotnik just smiled wider, head tilting as if he would mock the princess. No one gave him the chance, concentrating fire right above Sonic’s container, which screeched its metal damage. Metal twisted, but didn’t break, chaos energy leaking out of the top of the container. 

By then Knuckles and Mighty roused from their unconscious positions on the ground, standing, albeit unsteadily, with the Freedom Fighters. “We have to get the chaos emeralds out of there.” Knuckles growled. “And Sonic.”

Sally had to agree, turning to her team. “We have to get the emeralds out! They're powering the machine! We get the emeralds, we take down the machine! Let’s go!” 

Bunnie, Mighty, and Knuckles launched themselves at the machine, even as Chuck approached Sally under the hailfire of lasers and mechanical arms. “If we get the emeralds, shouldn’t we retreat? It’s the best course of action if we want to live.”

“But not if we want the village to live. This thing is a monstrosity and it could easily destroy everything we’ve protected up until now. We need to disable it at the very least and make it unusable at the most optimal.”

Even in the midst of children fighting a giant robot, Charles felt the warmth of approval sink into his mind. “You really will make an incredible queen, Sally.” He fired towards the mech with a renewed vigour, metal denting at the fire of the gauntlet. “Sonny! If you can hear me, you need out of that machine there!”

  
Sonic stirred, but didn’t wake. 

Knuckles climbed over the limbs of the bot before he reached the center, punching at the glass that held Sonic and the emeralds. Glass didn’t shatter, but cracks spread like spidery limbs. “Hey almost-traitor! Wake up you stubborn bastard!” It wasn’t long before Mighty joined him, only for them both to be forced away from the cylinder by steel arms. 

“I see what you’re doing there, children! It won’t work!” Robotnik taunted. Suddenly, the torso of the machine spun like a top, forcing the Freedom Fighters back. “And I’ll show the little traitor just why it won’t work, too!” An electrical pulse went through the mech and Sonic was suddenly awake with a scream, eyes as wide as they could be. Robotnik reached for Charles, taking the elder hedgehog into a tight grip. Sonic was banging on the glass, its cracking not spreading very far. His limbs were still heavy and the energy within his container was still penetrating his skull and body. 

“ _ No! _ ” Sonic shouted, voice scratchy and small. “ _ Please! _ ” The mechanical hand squeezed, a pop resounding in the air. 

Charles groaned in pain, held up so that Sonic could see every second of the man’s pain.  _ This couldn’t happen. _ He was the only family Sonic had left, wasn’t he? And since Sonic had come to Knothole he’d done nothing but try to help his nephew and Sonic  _ couldn’t let this happen, he had to help him, he had to help the Freedom Fighters, had to help the village because they helped him and they didn’t hurt him like Ivo and Snively didn’t, he couldn’t let it end like this _ . Sonic ignored the energy making itself home in his veins, in his bones, in his quills and fur. He ignored the awed gasping of those around him and violently punched the glass again. This time it shattered, along with the rest of the mech. Pieces of metal fell to the ground with heavy thuds before Sonic realized that the pain was gone.  _ And so was the floor _ , but he was still where he had been. 

Until his eyes rolled back, losing the energy quickly. Sonic felt himself lose consciousness and he felt someone catch him, a big gray moustache moving as its owner’s mouth hummed out words of caring was the last thing he saw before he blacked out.

\----

He woke up three weeks later, somehow still tired. He woke up again the next day and saw the Freedom Fighters, all of them, sleeping around his hospital bed. Chuck wasn’t sleeping and very nearly woke them up as he moved to hug his nephew. The feeling of warm arms embracing him without hurting was still new to Sonic.

“You--you gave us quite the scare there, boyo.” Chuck explained tearily. “You absorbed a lot of chaos energy and for a bit there you were absolutely golden, my boy! You saved my life.” Charles looked infinitely older than he was, even at his already-old age. “You saved me. And I know you probably think I don’t deserve it. And I can’t blame you really. I’m so sorry that I left you.”

Sonic didn’t really know what to say but his hands were already moving to sign, even as sluggish as they were.  _ I can’t really blame you. Ended up ok, didn’t it? More or less? _ Sonic couldn’t really hold a grudge against the man. He was the only family he had left, really. And obviously he cared about him.

There was room for growth. 

Charles continued on, apologizing and explaining what the doctors had said and what Tails had discovered about chaos energy, but Sonic couldn’t absorb any of it. His eyes slipped closed once again, a small smile gracing his lips.

\----

Doctor Ivo Robotnik is one thing. Well, two, but intelligent needn’t matter at the moment for the sake of argument. What he was, was too stubborn to lose. Too stubborn to not have yet another back-up plan. He was too intelligent and stubborn not to. 

His feet crackled the snow with each footfall, cold breath leaving him in clouds. His jacket was thick and difficult to maneuver in but was keeping him warm in the arctic temperatures. His associate beside him, short and blue, metallic parts whirring as red optics took in their surroundings. The glacier before them had already been explored, but not in totality.  _ There was still something in there _ .

“Metal.” Robotnik addressed his creation. “Locate ‘Project Shadow’.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really enjoy this fic and will be continuing it with another arc, and I would like to thank you guys for sticking with me on this! It has been a long road and I haven't been very consistent with updates, so again, thank you very much for reading through this!

**Author's Note:**

> Fun fact! Sonic's real name isn't Sonic (at least in the comics); it's actually Oglivile Maurice Hedgehog!
> 
> Also! Sonic Fancreators server! (https://discord.gg/yxdtJPyw6f) Come on down if it suits your fancy!
> 
> Also also! We now has a spotify playlist: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2uorvf7aDwt5LDD8w7ty8L?si=Sg_wDTP_SqSwOwDc2uYnBQ  
> Let me know if you have a song rec!


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